Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles Skynet's Time To Die
by TWDCarlGrimes
Summary: Time for Skynet to meet it's end and with a secret weapon on the resistance side will they be able to win and rebuild. I know people would say I copied some of the story from River2027 but the story work for what I have in mind. If you like great, If not no worries I don't judge. It has a crossover with Voyager in it but enjoy guys took time to write this.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Born To Fight

"So," he asked, keeping his voice cool. "What's going on?"

John Henry spoke first, his voice grave. "A machine has been sent back in time to Red Valley, New Mexico where it will attempt to murder a fifteen year old boy named John Connor."

All trace of a smile instantly disappeared off John's face. This was real. John Henry was dead serious, as were Cameron and Savannah. "Cromartie," John stated.

"He will succeed," John Henry agreed. "Unless someone stops him."

John felt as if he'd been punched as he realized what John Henry was insinuating. "Now?" he croaked. "You want me to send her now? No…" He shook his head. No, he couldn't do that. He needed her, needed her help to win the war. He couldn't do this alone!

Savannah looked heartbroken for him, but she agreed with John Henry. "You have to. If Cromartie has a chance to change the timeline… you'll cease to exist."

"This isn't Back to the Future," he snapped. "I won't disappear if I wait!"

"How can you be sure?" she asked reasonably.

He shook his head vehemently. "Not now! I can't!"

Cameron stepped forward, speaking softly. "John… you knew this was coming."

He kept shaking his head. "Not now. I'm not ready."

"Will you ever be ready?" she asked. "This has to happen. You know. You and I both knew this day would come."

"This is what you were trying to warn me about," he said. "Last night. You told me everything would change."

"I don't want to leave you," Cameron said firmly. "But I have to. I have to protect you. You can't send anyone else. I can't stay."

"But you can," he insisted. "We can change the future…"

"If I stay, you will never meet me," she explained. "You would grow close to whoever your new protector was. You may even fall in love with Riley. And Jesse would win."

"But you'd lose," Savannah said softly. "You'd lose the war. Without her, you wouldn't have made it this far. She has to be the one to go."

"I will prepare the TDE chamber," John Henry said, moving to the door. Savannah quickly followed after him, leaving John alone with Cameron, his mind racing, trying to think of some way he could talk her out of it, some loophole, some way that she could stay.

She seemed to anticipate what he was thinking. "John… it's time for me to go."

He didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay here forever, with him. But she was right. There was no one else he would trust to protect his younger self. No one else would prepare him for his role in the future.

Besides, like Weaver had said, it was because of Cameron and his love for her that brought the rogues to his side. And that's what would win this war. Cameron would win this war.

Whether she was here to see it or not.

He forced a smile he didn't feel and took her hand. "I love you, Cameron Phillips," he said softly. "I always will, even if we're miles or years apart. Ours is a love that transcends time, just like Kyle and my mother. And I want you to know something." He paused, pursing his lips. "I was a complete jerk to you. I trampled over you and threw away our friendship. I abandoned you for Riley and I blamed you for everything."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. "But I want you to know that down deep… I had never stopped loving you. I've always loved you. And a love like this doesn't die. Not ever. Not even when separated by two decades. Remember that."

She nodded and he leaned forward and kissed her desperately. How on earth could he let her go? Why did he have to sacrifice everyone he loved? Why him? Why couldn't he be selfish just this once?

Because… I'm John Connor.

He pulled back, opening his eyes to see Weaver standing in the doorway. She gave him a tight smile. "We must perform the memory scrub."

For a moment fear flashed in his mind. "What? So she won't…"

"Don't be absurd," Weaver replied. "We will only erase what is necessary. Memories of Ms. Dawson here in the future and everything that happened in the past. We will leave everything that happened in the future and it will be as if she was never in the past before."

"Is that really necessary?"

"You tell me, Mr. Connor," Weaver replied. "Don't you think that if she knew what she'd already lived through in the past, she might be tempted to change some things?"

He frowned. "Maybe."

"We can't have that," Weaver concluded. "Don't be afraid. John Henry will supervise the process. I promise we will only erase what is necessary."

John glanced over at Cameron who didn't seem fazed at all. "It's okay, John. I asked for her help. It's best this way."

"Right. Of course."

He watched dejectedly as she followed Weaver out into the hall towards the computer lab where John Henry would scrub some of her memories. She wouldn't remember meeting him the first time, or when he had reactivated her after she'd destroyed ARTIE. She wouldn't remember her proclamation of love when he had her trapped, wouldn't remember overriding her own programming so she would spare him. She wouldn't remember Riley, or the jealousy she felt, the time she came into his room and talked to him about being lonely, when she discussed feelings in the car ride from Mexico.

She wouldn't remember that night in the hotel right before she'd sacrificed her chip to John Henry. She wouldn't remember any of that.

But she would remember everything that happened in the future, the love they shared.

She'd remember this.

And that was all that mattered.

Serrano Point

Computer Lab

Cameron stood in the doorway of the computer lab, staring at John Henry who was looking up at her with a sorrowful expression. "You love him."

She felt a spike of emotion, something she'd become accustomed to feeling whenever the subject of John came up. "I do."

"He's sending you back."

"I know."

"You don't want to go."

"My mission is to protect John," she recited. "Even Past-John."

"But you won't be with John," John Henry replied.

"I'll be with a John."

"Not the John who loves you."

His statement was not entirely true. John had just revealed to her that he had always loved her, secretly. Perhaps he'd never even realized it himself until later on. But John Henry was right. It wasn't the John who loved her, not truly. Not yet at least.

"It doesn't matter," she replied. "I have to protect him."

Serrano Point

TDE Chamber

John swallowed hard as he stepped away from TDE, having already programmed in the date. He still couldn't believe this was real. It had been a whirlwind. She'd only been with him for less than a year and now she was getting ready to leave again. She entered, her face stoic and emotionless, but he knew for a fact that it was just a cover.

She could hide her emotions better than he could. It didn't mean she wasn't feeling them.

She stepped into the chamber, walking up to him and pulling the necklace over her head. "You should keep this," she said, dropping it into his open palm. He fought back a wave of tears as his fingers closed around the ring that she'd never got to actually wear properly.

"It doesn't go through," she added.

For her maybe, he thought bitterly. She would get to be with him again, reliving the experiences. But it wouldn't work out for him. He'd still be here, completely alone in the fight against Skynet.

And when he won… if he won… he'd have no one to share it with.

But he couldn't be angry with her. It was impossible. The blue lights began to flicker and John backed up out of range, into the darkness that was dimly lit up by the blue blur of the time displacement waves.

Through the tears glistening in his eyes, he could still see Cameron standing inside the bubble, her eyes locked on his. "I love you, John."

He saw the blue flash and called into the void, hoping his voice would follow her through time. He couldn't see, but as Cameron landed in the past, she heard his voice carry through the spark of blue lightning.

"I love you, too."

John sank to the ground with a moan, staring at the empty place she'd been. His heart was breaking, but he knew this had to happen. No one else would protect him with the same devotion and love as she did. Because no one else could love him like she did. No one else could have turned him into the leader he was destined to be, could have taught him everything he needed to know.

But it devastated him. How much loss could one person take?

This was the end of an era. The end of the year 2027 – one that John Connor had just dubbed the year of sorrows.

In less than twelve months, he'd lost his mother, Allison, Marcus, Max, Kyle, Star, Danny, Seth, Derek, Jesse, Riley, and Cameron. And that was still only scratching the surface of the losses during this war.

There's only one way for you to be safe… and that's to be alone.

She'd said that to him last night, assured him that she meant alone from humans not her. But it hadn't mattered anyway. Because John was lost and alone. Completely and utterly.

He couldn't believe what he had just done. There must have been another way, something else he could have done. He hadn't tried hard enough, hadn't looked long enough for a way where he wouldn't have to send her. Because as he knelt, in grief-stricken agony, staring at the place Cameron had been moments ago, he knew he'd never be the same. He knew what he'd done.

He'd just sent his heart away. He has Lost everything that meant everything that he was fighting for and lost everyone, Allison, Cameron, Derek, Kyle, his mother. Want else can Skynet take my the great John Connor now.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Born To Wake Up

Serrano Point

TDE Outer Chamber

Savannah felt a deep sorrow in her heart as she saw John Connor sink to his knees inside the inner chamber of the TDE, slow sobs racking his body. Her heart went out to him, though she knew nothing in the world could comfort him right now.

John Henry was at her side, observing John curiously. "Why does he cry?"

"Because," Savannah replied softly. "He had to send her away today. You know this."

"He loves her," John Henry stated. "He didn't want her to go."

"Of course not," Savannah replied. "But letting her stay would have ruined the timeline. He has to do this in order for humans to win the war."

"Sacrifice."

Savannah nodded. John Henry had said it perfectly. "Yes. It's a sacrifice." She looked up at him, feeling tears in her own eyes. "In this war, I've seen many people sacrifice parts of themselves, arms, legs, an eye. But John is different. He hasn't sacrificed anything physically. He's sacrificed his heart. All of his family apart from me, Right now I'm all he has lefted, If he know it or not."

"Love."

"Love is sacrifice," Savannah replied.

John Henry's face seemed to light up at the revelation. "Yes. Love is sacrifice," he repeated. She looked over. Had he finally been able to understand what it was? The basic at least? Ever since she'd been reunited with him, she'd been working, trying to get him to understand emotions, human things. Ellison had been teaching him morals and she'd been teaching him the rest.

But he'd never quite seemed to grasp it. Watching John and Cameron had certainly helped with his development. He'd seen evidence of love.

Now, he would see grief.

Serrano Point

TDE Inner Chamber

John sat motionless on the floor of the TDE chamber, his head resting on his knees, his eyes still staring at the spot where Cameron had disappeared. He couldn't grasp the situation, still couldn't believe what had just happened.

She's really gone, he thought despondently. And I'll never see her again.

It was like watching her die all over again. And this time, there was no chip to go retrieve, no way to bring her back to him, no way to ever see her again. His throat tightened.

Happy birthday, John Connor, he thought bitterly.

Today. His twentieth birthday, officially. Had Cameron known? Had she known that she left on his birthday and that was why she threw him the early party? It made sense. Why should he ever be granted a normal birthday?

He had a history of horrible birthdays, couldn't remember a birthday where he actually felt happy. His sixteenth had been the absolute worst… and the best. The worst because Cameron had turned on him, trying to kill him. The best because… well, that was when she'd first told him she loved him.

But this time… there was no good part about it.

Cameron was gone. He had nothing. Nothing left.

He'd been stupid, blind, thinking he could cheat destiny and keep her here. He hadn't been prepared for it, not in the least bit. He'd thought that maybe he would actually be able to hold on to something. He thought that maybe he would get to have a happy ending.

Wake up, John Connor, he thought dryly. There are no happy endings. Not for me. Not for anyone he knew. Had he ever seen a happy ending aside from what was in the movies? Not for his mother and Kyle. Not for Charley. Not for Derek and Jesse. Not for Riley and not for Allison. He thought that maybe he would be different, that maybe he and Cameron would be the exception, that they might have a happy ending.

But he'd only been kidding himself. Of everyone in the world, why would John Connor get to have a happy ending? He was the least likely to be happy. He'd lost everyone: his father and mother, his uncle, everyone he'd ever cared about. He'd lost Cameron.

At this point in time, even if he beat Skynet, he'd be alone. He'd never be truly happy again, never be whole again. A piece of him had died when his mother had, a piece of him had died with Allison. But Cameron… when Cameron had left, what remained of his heart had shattered. There was nothing left to live for. Even if he beat Skynet, he'd still have lost.

So what was the point in going on?

What was the point is fighting any more?

He shook his head. There was none. He remembered something Cameron had said one time, "Without John, my life has no meaning."

Well, without her…

He felt exactly the same way.

Serrano Point

Savannah's Bunk

Savannah paced back and forth in her bunkroom, trying to figure out what she could possibly do to help John. Nothing was coming to mind, except maybe jumping to the past and bringing Cameron back, which of course was out of the question.

Cody was sitting motionless on the bed, his eyes downcast, his lips tight. He hadn't said much at all since she'd told him about the situation, how Cameron had gone back in time, leaving a distraught and depressed John Connor behind.

"He's been in there for three days," she spoke up quietly. Three days and John hadn't moved from that spot, as if he was hoping beyond hope that Cameron would reappear and everything would go back to normal. But he had to know the truth, deep down.

More than that, she realized that John Connor had just… quit.

"He's not well, Cody," she said. "It's like he's shut down. He's lost. He's lost the will to lead, to fight. Even to live."

Cody finally looked up, his face twisted in grief. "I don't know how we can help him. Anything we say is just… there. It won't get to him, it won't bring him back."

"Cameron would hate this," Savannah murmured, more to herself. What else did John have in the world? Besides…

"Sam," she suggested. "Maybe he would respond to Sam." She knew that Cameron had given him the dog and Sam had always considered himself more her dog than anything, but he was still John's loyal companion, someone who would never leave him.

And he was probably going crazy at not being able to find Cameron.

She hurriedly reached over and grabbed Cody's hand, yanking him to his feet. "Come on!" she urged. "We have to get Sam and help Connor."

She pulled him out into the tunnels. First, she checked John's private quarters, but didn't see Sam inside. Where else did Sam like to go?

"The mess hall," Cody suggested. "He's a dog right? And dogs like food?"

"Right!" Savannah said, perking up. They entered the mess hall, not seeing Sam, but spotting Captain Reynolds and the two Dekker boys sitting at a table. She walked up, forcing a smile.

"Have you all seen Sam?"

Reynolds raised an eyebrow. "Sam who?"

"Sam," she repeated. "John and Cameron's dog? The German Shepherd."

Understanding lit up Reynolds' face. "Oh, that one. Yeah, he's come in here several times over the past few days. Looked mighty upset if you ask me. Wouldn't let anyone touch him, just kept running through, sniffing around, and running back out. Like he's looking for someone." Reynolds frowned. "Where is Connor?"

"Busy," Savannah said, hesitating momentarily. "Thanks for the information."

Reynolds smiled, seeming a bit puzzled. "Uh, you're welcome."

Savannah and Cody left the mess hall, both of them with faces of dejection. "He's looking for her," Savannah said, leaning against the wall. It was positively heartbreaking. Sam had been searching the entire bunker for three days, searching for Cameron. And he couldn't find her or Connor for that matter, since John was still locked in his self-inflicted jail cell.

Cody sank to the ground. "He'll come this way eventually," he remarked. "He'll keep looking."

Savannah slowly joined him on the floor, feeling helpless. "I don't know how to help."

"He needs time to grieve," Cody replied.

She looked over. Cody knew all about grieving and loss, more so than she did. "Maybe you could talk to him," she suggested. "You've lost both your parents."

Cody looked away. "He won't listen. Not yet at least. Nothing will get through to him."

Savannah's face twisted. Cody was her best friend, and it hurt her to see him in pain. Clearly recent events had only reinforced the loss that he felt. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

Cody shook his head, his eyes still out front. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

"It's not anyone's fault," she reminded him.

"It's Skynet's fault," he shot back. "If Skynet hadn't attacked, they wouldn't have sacrificed themselves so we could escape."

Savannah was about to reply when she heard the clattering of canine claws against the floor. An instant later, Sam came around the corner, running down the hall, stopping to poke his head inside every open door before continuing on.

When he came past, Cody caught him by the collar and made him sit. "It's okay, Sam," he whispered.

The dog whined pitifully, trying to scamper away from Cody and continue his vigilant search for Cameron. Savannah gently stroked his head. "Shh, Sam. We're bringing you to John. We're going to see John, okay?"

Sam seemed to perk up at John's name, but she knew he couldn't understand anything else. Cody kept a firm grip on Sam's collar as they headed back towards the TDE chamber. When they reached the biometric lock, Savannah suddenly realized there was one thing they'd overlooked.

"Um, only him and Cameron had access right?" she asked.

Cody's face fell. "Blast it…" His eyes lit up a moment later. "We can get Weaver!" He handed her Sam and headed off back down the hall.

Savannah knelt down beside Sam, stroking his fur and biting her lip. Sam was barely paying any attention to her, his eyes seemed to be darting everywhere, his muscles tensed.

She felt a pang of grief. Sam would never be able to understand what had happened to Cameron, never get to see her again. But at least he would have John.

If John ever decided to start living again.

Cody returned moments later with Weaver, his face a mask. "Don't let him see," he said crisply, gesturing to Sam. Savannah understood. Seeing Weaver take Cameron's form momentarily would be undeniably cruel. She pulled the dog out of the hallway, waiting to hear the door of the TDE chamber whoosh open.

She brought Sam back around, seeing Cody staring at Weaver who was now back in her original form.

"Never again," he said in a low voice. "That's the only time you ever use that form, do you understand? Seeing you in her form isn't going to help him, alright? You'll make things worse. If you ever do that to him, I'll destroy you myself."

Weaver merely smiled. "Like father, like son."

Cody narrowed his eyes as Weaver brushed past him down the hall. He quickly turned and gestured to Savannah who brought Sam forward and released him. The dog darted into the room, scanning the surroundings before he sat down at the entrance to the inner chamber.

Savannah opened the door and Sam darted in, nearly bowling over John, who was still seated in what seemed to be the exact same position. Savannah entered after the dog, watching with an aching heart as Sam wagged his tail, whining happily, trying to get John's attention.

John himself was unresponsive, almost as if he was in shock. She slowly came over to his side. "John… it's Sam. Your dog."

Sam licked his face and John finally took notice of the dog, stroking his fur gently. But there was still nothing in his eyes. They were dead, something that sent a chill through her. Something had been missing in John Connor ever since Cameron had left. She could see it, in his eyes, the way he acted and the way he didn't.

John Connor had given up.

She leaned closer, desperate to make him understand. "John, you can't do this," she insisted, her voice wavering. "You have to come back to us. We need you here, now! I need you, you are like my big brother John. You can't give up."

He still didn't respond and she felt a flash of anger. He couldn't do this. Couldn't abandon them all to Skynet. They needed him to lead, to fight, to win!

"If you don't get a grip, we are dead!" she insisted vehemently. Maybe the cold hard truth would snap him out of it. "We are all dead! You are dead! We need you to lead us!"

John finally turned to look at her and her breath caught in her throat. She could see it now, the absolute emptiness.

As she stared into his haunted eyes, she realized the truth. And it broke her heart.

Because John Connor was already dead.

Serrano Point

Cody Phillips wasn't sure how to help. Anything he could say to John would go right through him. As long as John remained in this state, closed off and unresponsive, nothing anyone could say would get through to him. And there was no way John could lead anyone right not, not when he could barely think straight.

Cody entered the meeting room, where Major Perry, Captain Reynolds, and pilot Blair Williams were talking.

"Skynet built another time machine," Perry was saying. "We need to find it somehow…" he trailed off when Cody entered.

"Where is Connor?" he demanded. "He needs to get in here."

Cody felt a burst of anger. "Hey! John Connor just lost the one thing in life that means the most to him. He's in no condition to lead right now."

"But something has to be done. Someone has to!"

"I'll do it," Cody cut in before he could even think twice. A moment later, he froze. Had those words actually come out of his mouth? No one could handle this job like John Connor could. But helping out until John was well again was the least he could do. "I'll take the squad out and we'll search for the TDE, alright?"

Perry raised an eyebrow, both disapproving and curious at the same time. Cody ignored the glance, nodding towards Nathan and Blair. "Let's go."

As they headed to the hanger, Nathan leaned in closer. "Am I missing something?"

"Probably," Cody said shortly. "Did you know that Skynet has rebuilt its time machine and sent a machine back to kill John? Did you know that he had to send Cameron back in time to stop it? Did you know that unless we find that TDE, they'll keep using it to try to change the future?"

Nathan blanched. "Um, no. Not really."

"We don't even know where this new TDE is," Blair cut in. "How do we find it?"

"Same way he found the first one," Cody replied. "He sent scouts right?"

"And it was a lucky break that Kyle Reese even found it," Blair protested. "He followed an HK that was carrying parts to finish building the thing. If this one is already operational, what trail can we follow to find it?"

Cody paused, turning to the two of them purposefully. "Okay, so where is a logical place for Skynet to put its new TDE?"

"Underground," Blair stated.

"In space," Nathan said at the same time. Cody gave him a look and Nathan gave him a crooked grin. "You asked."

"Seriously," Cody continued.

"Someplace far away from Serrano Point," Blair replied. "Skynet wouldn't want it anywhere near us. We'd be able to find it too quickly."

"Or maybe they did put it close to us thinking we'd expect just the opposite," Cody replied.

Blair frowned, studying him. "Stop playing games. I can tell that you know something. So where is it?"

Cody hid a smile. "Las Vegas."

"Be serious," she scolded.

"Oh, I am," Cody replied. "Technically it's the Hoover Dam. Beneath it, actually. One of Skynet's Research and Development posts."

Blair crossed her arms. "How you figure that?"

"Well, I spent the last forty-eight hours sitting in front of a computer cross-referencing and analyzing Skynet's movement patterns and transmissions from bases, calculated its logical next move and coupled it with Logan's knowledge of all the SRDs worldwide and concluded that the Nevada SRD is the most likely place for Skynet to set up its new TDE. The water source provides it with a power supply to run the rest of the facility and its location is ideal to remain hidden."

When he finished, Blair uncrossed her arms, looking reluctantly impressed. "Wow. Really?"

Cody shrugged. "Nah. Heard it from John Henry's spy."

He turned around, savoring the huff of annoyance from Blair. At her side, Captain Nathan was chuckling.

"You know, I like him. He's got spunk."

"Alright, spunky," Blair called. "But I didn't think you could fly an A-10."

"We'll be going by truck, not plane," Cody replied. "Skynet's air activity has increased in the last few weeks. We don't want to get caught by an HK."

Blair gave him a wry smile. "Did John Henry's spy tell you that too?"

"No, that I actually looked up myself," he admitted.

About three hours later, Cody was sitting in the driver's seat of the truck, almost at the California/Nevada border. Nathan was in the passenger seat and Blair was in the back, scanning the area.

"Hey look!" Nathan said suddenly, pointing up ahead. Cody saw the figure standing in the road. It was female, he could see, but it was too far away to recognize who – or what – it was.

Nathan peered through the binoculars and Cody thought he saw a flash of metal. "It's got a gun!" Nathan shouted. "It's a machine! Go on, hit it, hit it!"

Cody was seriously beginning to wonder if the Captain really understood that they were still in a life and death struggle for survival. Then again, maybe that was just Nathan' personality.

He shot a blast of his plasma rifle at the machine. Its head kicked backwards and Cody plowed into it with the truck, nearly bouncing out of his seat as they ran it over. Still, Nathan was right. It was completely satisfying.

"Roadkill," Nathan remarked with a roguish grin. Cody looked back at the Terminator on the ground. That had to have been a plasma shot to the head anyway, he realized. It was probably terminated.

To his surprise he saw the machine slowly rise to its feet. And he saw a silver ripple near its head. Liquid metal, he realized with shock. The Halypsion outer sheath had stopped the plasma bolt from doing any real damage.

The machine looked up right at him and he suddenly recognized it. It was the same face as the T-X he had destroyed inside the Gray Base.

He felt paralyzed. T-X. Did they escape the nuclear blast? Or was this one just out on a mission and managed to avoid it?

"Drive!" Blair shouted, snapping Cody back into action. He hit the gas, the truck lurching forward.

"What is that thing?" Nathan demanded. "Isn't one shot supposed to make it… you know, dead-like?"

"It's a T-X," Cody reported grimly. "Liquid metal. It's-."

The entire truck jerked and Cody looked back to see that the T-X had caught them and was hanging onto the back. Blair yelped and dove up into the front seat with Cody and Nathan.

Cody whipped the wheel, throwing the T-X off balance as she tried to climb up into the truck. Nathan turned and shot his plasma rifle at her hand. The bolt didn't do any damage, but it forced the T-X to release her grip on the truck, dropping off onto the ground as the truck kept speeding away.

Cody glanced back, seeing her roll deftly to her feet and keep pursuing their truck.

"Faster, faster!" Nathan demanded anxiously. "Faster would be better!"

"Relax!" Cody shot back. Everyone shouting would do them no good. He needed to stop that thing somehow. And the only thing he knew of that could stop it was –

"Blair!" he called crisply. "Check in my bag, quickly!"

Blair did as ordered, grabbing his bag from the back and opening it. "What am I looking for?"

"There's a gun in there. New."

Blair pulled it out, looking confused. "What is it?"

Despite the situation Cody grinned. He knew that would come in useful sometime. "They called it the CryoBlaster," he explained. "Shoots a stream of liquid nitrogen."

"Nitrogen," Nathan repeated. "Why?"

"It'll freeze the Halypsion metal," Cody replied. "It's the only thing I know of that will stop it, short of a nuclear explosion or a temperature that equals that of the Human Torch in supernova state."

"You read comic books?" Nathan demanded, creasing his brow.

"My parents were time-travelers battling humanoid robots," he retorted. "Science fiction runs in the family."

Blair hefted the CryoBlaster and aimed it at the back of the truck. Cody risked a glance back, seeing that the T-X was still gaining on them. He jammed his foot on the gas pedal.

"Blast it, why doesn't this thing go faster?"

Blair had a hardened look on her face as she aimed the weapon. As soon as the T-X lunged to grab hold of the truck, Blair shot, the blast of freezing nitrogen hitting the machine. It dropped off the truck and Cody saw it try unsuccessfully to get up. Temporarily frozen, just like the one in the Gray Base had been.

The only problem is, he didn't have Weaver here to kill it for good.

"Stop the truck!" Nathan shouted.

Cody obliged, though his instincts were encouraging him to run. "Why?" Nathan didn't answer, merely jumped around to the front of the truck and started messing around with its engine. Cody exchanged a look with Blair, who shrugged.

A moment later, Nathan emerged with a small square object. "Nuclear Power Cell," he said as he ran over to the fallen T-X and placing it right beside her head. Right, Cody remembered. The Resistance had outfitted all their vehicles with the power cell, which eliminated the need for gas and made them run quieter. He started the engine, relieved to see that there was still half a tank of regular gasoline, maybe enough to get them to Nevada.

Nathan climbed back in and Cody took off as fast as he could, putting as much distance between them and the T-X as possible. Only a few seconds later, he heard the explosion and pulled the truck over, looking back to see the tiny mushroom cloud where the T-X had been moments ago.

He gave Nathan an approving glance. "Very nice," he admitted.

"Very nice indeed," said another voice.

Cody whipped his head around to see a group of soldiers approaching, guns at the ready. "You Resistance?"

"Yes," Cody said boldly. "Who are you?"

"Beckett," the man replied, still eyeing the trio warily. "You John Connor?"

At first Cody wondered how the man had gathered that, then realized that the man had obviously noticed that Blair and Nathan were following his lead, and he did seem pretty young still.

"Um, no," he replied.

Beckett smirked. "He making you fill in for him?"

Cody bristled. "No! I volunteered for this!"

"So where is the esteemed leader of mankind?"

Cody didn't like the man's attitude towards John. "He's having a bit of a… personal crisis."

"Crisis?" Beckett repeated, amused. "Like what?"

Now he'd trapped himself. Cody winced. He was sure John wouldn't like having everyone know what he was dealing with. Then again, the John who was holed up in the TDE chamber probably wouldn't care.

"Loss," he replied simply.

Beckett snorted. "I think we've all seen that. He better get his head on straight. So do you. Where you headed?"

"The Nevada SRD," Cody replied. He noticed that Beckett gave a start at the mention. "Skynet has a secret weapon there we're in charge of destroying."

Beckett chuckled dryly. "Might as well forget it."

"Why?" Did Beckett not think them capable? "We have a load of C4…"

"You'll never make it in alive," Beckett cut in. "I saw you destroy that T-X up there, but there's something you should know. We've seen a bunch of them in the area lately. Heading right towards Nevada, probably to guard that secret weapon."

Cody felt his heart sink. More of them? Had more escaped the destruction of the Gray Base? "How many?"

Beckett shrugged, glancing at his friends. "Twenty? At least?"

"Twenty…" Cody suddenly felt his blood run cold. What about the nuclear attack on the Gray Base? That should have destroyed them! The whole freaking army of them!

Unless… that Gray, Alex Castle, had stalled John for a while when Kirk went down to check the hostage situation. Alex said he was trying to save lives, but what if he'd really been stalling so that he could send the T-X units out and away from harm? Or even if Alex wasn't lying, the machines themselves would have known the danger. They could have escaped in underground tunnels or anything.

Blair and Nathan looked over, both their eyes filled with grief as they realized the same thing he did. They knew what it meant. The goal of that mission had been to destroy the T-Xs. The several hundred casualties had been a sacrifice, conducted by Rogue Terminator Solo. But if they really hadn't taken out the T-Xs, it meant that all those people – those Grays, those captive resistance fighters – had all been killed for nothing.

They'd launched nuclear missiles on a base filled solely with human beings.

Cody felt sick, nauseous.

Beckett narrowed his eyebrows. "Not looking too well, little man," he said coolly. "You'll never get into that secret weapon with only three of ya. My advice? Go back to Connor. Make him remind us why we follow him."

Cody wanted to reply, wanted to zing back a nasty retort that would defend John Connor. But his mouth wouldn't open, words wouldn't form. The news had rocked him, rocked them all.

He cleared his throat, trying to compose himself. "Thanks," he murmured. "We'll…" He cast a quick glance over at Blair and Nathan. Neither met his gaze. "We'll go now," he finished.

As he turned away, he couldn't shake it. Couldn't get rid of the awful truth.

Several hundred humans lives, thrown away for nothing. John had believed the sacrifice was too high a price, but now, the entire thing had been worthless anyway. There was no silver lining, no good thing that came out of that attack.

It had been murder.

Not war, not strategy, not sacrifice.

Murder. Plain and simple.

Skynet Research and Development Station

Her eyes opened and she winced at the bright light shining down on her. Where on earth was she? What had happened? Was she dead? Faintly she heard voices, none of which she recognized. But they appeared to be talking about her.

"The subject is ready for deployment," one voice said.

Deployment? What did that mean? What were they talking about?

"All the proper modifications have been made?" another asked. This one sounded more human. "She's ready for duty?"

Ready for duty? That's right. She was a soldier, a Resis—

No. Not in the Resistance. The Resistance was the enemy. She frowned, wondering where that thought had come from. It was almost as if an outside source was implanting the suggestion inside her mind. But that wasn't possible, was it?

"This is our chance," the human was saying, his voice sounding excited. "We'll finally be able to get to John Connor. This is the perfect way."

There was a sudden urge, a voice in the back of her mind ordering: Find him. Kill him.

"John…" his name escaped her lips in a whisper. The two dark figures turned to regard her.

"We're taking a risk with this one," the human said nervously. "Her previous connection to Connor…"

"…is what will allow her to get under his guard and complete the mission," the Terminator finished. It stared down at her, its human face blank.

She was confused, still so confused. Everything that happened recently seemed to be so fuzzy…

"What is your name?" the machine asked.

"My name…?" She repeated. In a flash, it came back to her, along with a slew of other memories that seemed to conflict with what that little voice in her head was saying.

I'm Resistance.

No, you're with Skynet.

She didn't have a mission to kill John Connor. What was it talking about? She didn't want to kill him.

Kill John Connor.

The Terminator was still waiting for her answer, staring at her with piercing eyes. She took a deep breath.

"My name is Allison… Allison Young."

Back at Serrano Point

John was stay not back, then the next second a combadge appeared in front of him.

Next time John knows Chakotay starts talking "Voyager to Connor, Captain please respond."

"Yeah, I'm here" John finally responds

"Captain is it good to hear your voice, We are in orbit right now, You want us to move in on Skynet?" Chakotay replies

"No, Don't move stay there and don't let Skynet find you and wait for more orders." John responds

"Aye Captain, Chakotay out." Chakotay says and cuts the com link.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Born To Return Home

Serrano Point

TDE Chamber

Cody approached the biometric scanner outside the TDE chamber, letting the beam run over his eyes and confirm his identity. Not long after John's… condition…had been made known, John Henry had added both Cody's and Savannah's biometrics to the system, giving them access to see John… and hopefully talk him into taking up his responsibilities again.

Cody approached him cautiously, taking in the young General's appearance. It didn't seem to have changed much. In the first few days, John had a haunted look in his eyes, almost like he had gone into shock. Now, his eyes were still blank, but it wasn't a vacant stare anymore. It was just… grief-stricken. He'd completely and utterly lost the will to go on.

"Savannah told me you went on a mission," John said, his tone dull and emotionless.

At least he's speaking now, Cody thought to himself. "Um, yeah," he said, hesitating momentarily. He really didn't want to report the T-Xs to John, not right now, but Connor deserved to know. He needed to know why they still needed him.

"The T-X army is still out there," he said hastily, bracing for John's reaction. But – not surprisingly if he thought about it – none came. "They didn't get destroyed like we thought."

He saw John's face twist in agony. "So it was all for nothing? We killed those people for nothing?"

Cody bit his lip. But what could he say to that? There was nothing, no words at all. Except ones of understanding and encouragement.

"It's not your fault," he began. "You tried to call off the attack. It was Solo who went against orders."

John remained silent, staring straight ahead and Cody felt an unreasonable anger start to rise in him. This wasn't the John Connor he knew. This wasn't the John Connor who had led the human resistance through years of war. The John he knew wouldn't shirk his responsibilities, no matter how great the loss.

"Listen to me," he pleaded. "I know how you feel…"

John shook his head ever so slightly. "No, you really don't."

"I've lost too," Cody retorted, his voice cracking. "I lost both my parents. They died, sacrificing their lives to save me. And to save Savannah and Ellison and Danny." He swallowed hard. "They died for me. And nothing can ever make that better. Nothing is ever the same. That feeling of loss is always there... but you have to move on." What would get to John? The words of his father, maybe?

"Pain can be controlled. You just disconnect it."

He saw the flash of confusion on John's face but it disappeared instantly. "Where'd you hear that? Kyle was gone before you came along."

"My father told me about him," Cody said simply. "Kyle Reese is a legend in the Resistance."

John had already retreated back into his mind again and Cody sighed. "Cameron would want you to move on. We need you. I need you. And Savannah needs you and the entire human resistance needs you! You need to wake up and get back in the game!"

John didn't seem to respond at all, so Cody simply nodded to himself. "Okay… we'll check on you later."

He backed out, trying to shove down his frustrations. Though he had to admit, John had done well up to this point. With all he'd seen, all he'd done, all he'd lost, Cody was surprised he hadn't cracked before now. But when he did, he did it hard.

He met Savannah in the bunkroom and she instantly leaped up, her eyes betraying her concern. "How is he?"

"Same," Cody said shortly.

"I talked to Lauren," Savannah began. "She said what he's dealing with is basically post traumatic stress. Grief and depression."

"But it's not just depression," Cody retorted, shaking his head. "There's nothing normal about this kind of depression. Normal people didn't have to send away the person they love through time so that the rest of the world would live."

"Aren't you being dramatic?"

Cody shook his head adamantly. "No, I'm not. What would happen if he'd kept her here? The timeline would be screwed. There'd be no John Connor, no Rogue machines helping us. The Resistance would have been destroyed, finished. Skynet would win. In order to prevent that, he had to sacrifice his love, his heart. He sacrificed his future so that the rest of mankind can have one. How does one cope with that?"

"How does one cope with that," she repeated softly, shaking her head. "Cody…"

"Give him the tapes," Cody said suddenly.

"What?"

"The tapes that his mother made him," Cody replied. "If anything can get through to him, Sarah Connor can." Only Sarah Connor and Cameron had ever had that great an effect on John Connor. And obviously, since Cameron couldn't help, maybe hearing his mother's voice would snap John out of it.

Savannah nodded, obviously agreeing with him on that aspect. "Okay."

Serrano Point

TDE Chamber

John wasn't sure how much time had passed. Savannah and Cody seemed to come in every day with a can of food and some pointless conversation that he barely listened to. What was the point? He was done. Done with everything. Done with life. The only reason he hadn't made that official was that he didn't have a weapon with him and didn't want to leave the TDE chamber.

Why couldn't they understand? There just wasn't a point anymore. He'd sent her back to ensure his survival… but what kind of existence was this? Forced to lead a losing battle? Forced to watch everyone he loved die horrible deaths, suffer horrible fates while he lived on through the pain? When was it his turn to escape from it all?

Even Cameron had escaped from it. His face twisted into a frown. No, he realized. She really hadn't. He'd sent her back in time to replay everything all over again. Her escape would never come. She couldn't die like he could. She was in an endless loop. Go back, save young John, give John Henry her chip, have her entity dumped onto the new chip in her new body and start all over again.

He heard the door open and out of the corner of his eye saw Savannah approach hesitantly, clutching something in her hand. He didn't look over.

His voice was etched with grief when he said, "I trapped her in a constant loop. Forever."

She was quick, he'd give her that. She seemed to understand right off the bat who and what he was talking about. "That means she has an eternity of being with you."

"It means she has to relive everything," he replied bitterly. "The fights, how I was such a jerk to her…"

"You scrubbed her memories, didn't you?" Savannah asked, bewildered. "She won't remember it. It will be new."

He didn't make a move to reply and she set something down in front of him. "Yelkov finally fixed up the DVDs," she said. He took a quick glance down and saw the portable DVD player, his tape player, and a stack of tapes that had been sitting on his desk. "I figured you may want to see your mother."

He resisted the urge to grunt in disgust. What good would it do to hear his mother's voice? She was still dead too, just like everyone else he loved. But instead, he remained silent and Savannah soon stood up and retreated. For a while, he just sat there, his gaze being drawn to the tapes.

Finally, unconsciously he reached out and hit play on the recorder, felt his heart wrench at the sound of his mother's voice playing off the tape he had left in there.

"I don't know what the future will hold for you," Sarah was say, her voice young and strong. "You'll grow up to be… a great leader, a great inspiration. And I hope that I'll be there to see it, but if not, I hope that you'll find someone. I hope that someday you'll get to experience the joy and love that I had for Kyle. And I hope it lasts longer than two days."

He looked away. That was just the thing. Sarah would never truly understand. She'd always been the lone wolf. She'd only had Kyle's support for two days. Of course, he wasn't denying that the two loved each other, that Sarah had been devastated when Kyle died. But it wasn't the same. He'd known Cameron for years and they'd been through so much together. It was a lot different losing an entire half of your soul. Maybe Sarah could bounce back and keep fighting, but he couldn't anymore.

When Cameron had left, so had his will to fight.

He opened the DVD player and grabbed the discs. There was one more than he remembered and the extra one wasn't labeled in any way. He stuck it in first, preparing to see his mother or Danny on the screen.

He was entirely unprepared to see Cameron instead.

"John…" she said.

He could feel his heart skip a beat and his breath come out in a quiet gasp. She'd left him a message? When had this happened? Oh, how he loved seeing her face again…

"I know what you did was hard," she was saying. He could see the hint of emotion on her face. "I know you're hurt and I'm sorry. You have to understand that I didn't want to leave you. But this has to happen. You – and I – have to make that sacrifice. Because sacrifice is the key. The key to the entire war." Her voice and eyes turned pleading, almost exactly like when she'd been begging him to let her go, that she was fixed, that she loved him…

"Please, John," she said desperately. "I know you'll want to give up, but you can't. You've come too far to give up now. They need you to be strong and to be a leader. Your mother believed in you and I believe in you. You're the only one who can stop Skynet and that's what you have to do. Don't let our sacrifice be in vain. I know I can't be back there with you but when this whole thing is over with Skynet promise me your find someone and live the life you wanted not the life that Skynet made you have. But like I said Find someone and live you life."

He could feel his eyes burning as she smiled on the screen. "I love you, John."

The screen blinked out and he felt an incredibly longing fill his heart. He quickly rewound it, heard her voice say "I love you, John" again and paused it, soaking in her image.

What would she think of him now? Sitting here, moping, contemplating suicide, giving up… He felt a thrill of horror shoot through him, one of the first strong emotions he'd felt in a long time.

What am I doing? He was John Connor! Hero of the Resistance, leader of mankind! Why was he still in here? What was wrong with him? He stood up abruptly, feeling his face flush with anger at himself. How much time had he wasted? Cameron was right. He couldn't let their sacrifice be in vain. He needed to lead, needed to fight.

He picked up the other DVD, one about his mother's research and slipped it in. Now was time to concentrate on a way to stop Skynet. For good. Forever. No more sitting around, no more shirking his responsibilities.

He felt emboldened, empowered. That was the effect she had on him. Even when she wasn't here anyone, her words, her voice, it had still inspired him. As he began listening to his mother's research, he felt his sense of purpose come flooding back.

John Connor had returned.

Serrano Point

Tech Room

Cody stood in front of Michael Logan, Ellison, and John Henry with his hand on his chin, deep in thought. "The TDE is going to be tricky, especially if there's an army of T-Xs waiting to kill us."

"Uh, yeah, that's usually a problem," Logan agreed.

"So we don't focus on the TDE," Cody responded. "We focus on Skynet. A way to stop it. Permanently." He pointed a finger at Logan. "What was your strategy to defeat this thing? You and Sarah Connor and Danny were working on something."

Logan cocked an eyebrow. "You were there when we planned it."

"Um, yeah but I was still a kid," Cody protested. Wasn't that obvious? "It's not like I remember the intimate details. I doubt even Sarah Connor remembered everything. She probably had Danny explain some of the technical things on that tape."

"I never really understood the premise myself," Ellison admitted.

"Perhaps I can help," John Henry added with a cheerful smile.

Logan gave him a dubious look. "We already had a plan in place. But we didn't have the ability to enact it. I'm still not sure if we do."

"So refresh my memory," Cody cut in. "Start at the beginning."

Logan shrugged, relenting. "Okay, well, Ellison, why don't you start?"

Ellison nodded. "Sarah Connor, Danny, and I learned that our original plan to defeat Skynet was not enough."

"From my parents," Cody cut in.

"Right," Ellison agreed. "They told us that there would be a Skynet II. Since our first idea for killing the first Skynet used a software virus – which worked thanks to John Henry – we decided that this time we'd try to break Skynet through the hardware internet infrastructure instead…"

Serrano Point

TDE Chamber

John sat cross-legged on the ground, the miniature DVD player in his lap. On screen, his mother was sitting inside some kind of computer laboratory, and he could see her eyes go misty, as if she was truly imagining him sitting there watching this.

"John," she began. "I promised you I'd stop this, and I will. We've been working as hard as we can finding out new ideas and research strategies. If you're watching this, you've no doubt been to Zion and found Ellison, Danny, Savannah… and Cody. I hope that our first plan worked and that you were able to defeat the first Skynet. We've learned from a… friend…" She cast a quick glance backwards and he could see two figures in the background, shrouded in darkness.

Maybe they were Cody's parents, the ones who were sent back to help her. He frowned at the look on her face. He'd seen another tape where she looked like that, back when she was telling him about her new friends. They were important to her, he realized.

He had speculated on who it was that he would send back to help her that she'd get so attached to, but always drew a blank. He'd eventually concluded that maybe they had saved her life or maybe it was because they had Cody. Maybe she liked having a kid around again. Maybe Cody had reminded her of him, her runaway General son.

"We went to a chip factory in Irvine, California," Sarah continued. "Broadcom Corporation, one of the leading communications chip companies. They specialized in EPHY chips. According to Danny, they are Ethernet Physical Transceivers…"

Serrano Point

Tech Room

"In 2011, they came to my company," Logan explained. "Broadcom Corp. At the time, we owned more than fifty percent market share of the world's Ethernet chips and have shipped more than two billion Ethernet ports since 1998."

"So Broadcom is a leader in these EPHY chips," Cody concluded.

Logan nodded. "Exactly. The EPHY chips were our specialty."

"The EPHY is a silicon chip which implements sophisticated digital signal processing techniques to convert the computer's digital data into analog signals that are transmitted through the copper wire and optical fiber cable," John Henry added.

"Meaning?"

Logan decided to put it simply. "The EPHY is much like the tires of a car that allows us to travel through the internet superhighway. Where the 'rubber meets the road' as people used to say."

Cody nodded once to say he understood. Technically, this was his first real time hearing this since he hadn't really been able to comprehend it when Sarah had first discovered the method.

"The purpose of the EPHY is to physically connect each computer to a repeater or switch," Logan explained. "The switch connects each computer to one another based on a unique Internet Protocol address. If the IP address does not match any of the other computers connected to the switch, then the packet traffic is sent out to the internet. The EPHY chip is the physical hardware glue that holds the internet together."

"So if we disable the EPHY chip, the internet falls apart?"

"You could say that," Logan agreed.

Cody frowned. "So how do we disable the chip if it's inside the internet?"

Ellison began talking again. "That's what we were trying to find out. Sarah and Dyson searched the Quality Assurance database that contains all customer issues with Broadcom EPHYs. In particular, they were searching for failing conditions that totally incapacitates the chip."

To replicate it, Cody added mentally. It was very reasonable of them.

"It took weeks of hard labor and compiling data, but eventually Danny found a unique problem with the EPHY that causes it to overheat and distort the transmitted signal if power is not interrupted," Ellison finished.

"How?" Cody asked.

Logan flashed a smile. "That's when they came to me. They called me up and explained their problem and offered me a job at Zeira Corp. It was a better job opportunity and a higher salary, so naturally I decided to come in for the interview. But instead of asking me questions, they took me down into the basement and showed me… everything. The TDE, the Turk, one of the machines…" He cast a quick look at Cody. "She explained about things to come and that Skynet would go online in 2011."

"You believed her," Cody stated.

"Of course," Logan replied. "I'm was a computer scientist faced with all that hard evidence. I joined the team, as you would say. Sarah never much liked working with me. I guess she just has a problem with anyone who can actually enjoying working with computers and AI. Danny and I found it fascinating."

"And the EPHY chips," Cody prodded. "You found the flaw?"

"We found an inherent problem in the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet specification that was created by DARPA with regards to the amplitude voltage adjustment of the signal on the wire. There were hidden control bits that are accessible to the firmware which enabled the amplitude voltage to exceed the turn on voltage of the CESD diodes, which are used to protect the chip from a short burst of static electricity when a copper or fiber cable is plugged into the Ethernet port. However, when the CESD diodes are inadvertently turned on by the high signal amplitude, it heats up by conducting excessive current through a phenomenon called 'thermal runaway'. In a silicon diode, the temperature increases as more current flows which in turn further increases the temperature and current in a positive feedback until enough current flows through the diode to heat it up and cause it to malfunction by distorting the signal. The CESD protection circuit is designed for short current bursts and not for a sustained current operation. This was a major oversight in the specification that was not easily detected."

When he finished, Cody was staring at him blankly. The words had basically gone in one ear and out the other. "What's that in English?"

Logan smiled sheepishly, as if he just remembered that he wasn't talking with fellow computer geeks. "There is a flaw in the internet specification that can heat up the EPHY chip's static protection circuit which was originally designed only for short bursts of current and not a sustained flow. This flaw can be activated by increasing the amplitude voltage of the EPHY chip's signal through hidden control bits in the software."

"Cranking the juice," Cody said aloud. "So all EPHY chips have this same problem?"

Logan nodded. "Yes, because they were all built using the same faulty specification. When an EPHY chip heats up, the transmitted signal becomes distorted thereby preventing the receiver from successfully decoding the transmitted information. Either way, this will bring down the internet connection permanently until the board which contains the EPHY is rebooted."

"Which means the internet infrastructure in the world can be semi-permanently destroyed and then restored," Cody agreed.

"Danny and I created the software code that induces the failure," Logan said. "We gave it to Sarah for safekeeping and I don't know what happened to it…"

Serrano Point

TDE Chamber

John picked up the other DVD and turned it over, staring at it curiously as Sarah's voice continued.

"Enclosed is the software code that will cause the EPHY chip to fail," she explained. "We call it the 'Angel of Death.' You can convert it into a virus code and download it into every computer in the world using Skynet's internet infrastructure. We don't think Skynet will notice it because it is so small and seems harmless. All it does is access the control bits of the EPHY chips that are connected to the internet infrastructure. But if all goes as planned, it will bring down the entire internet."

John held up the "Angel" disc with a new respect.

"According to Danny and Logan," Sarah went on. "Skynet will be forced to power off to protect the computer system from the virus. With the network down, it won't be able to call for help or send commands. It can't escape to form a counter attack. It's trapped, like an octopus without tentacles."

"So this is gonna kill it?" he said aloud.

Sarah's face twisted as if she could hear him. "There is one small thing…"

Serrano Point

Tech Room

Cody leaned forward, his eyes alight with excitement. "This is gonna kill it?"

"Even though I was aware of the weakness I did not install any countermeasure to protect the EPHY chip from the virus," Logan confirmed.

"Not even when you were a Gray?"

He saw Logan flush a little at the mention, but he shook his head adamantly. "No. I was trying to keep Skynet from becoming too powerful, not make it invincible."

"So this is gonna kill it right?"

"It'll make it stop," Logan replied. "Trap it. Destroying the internet infrastructure isn't enough to defeat Skynet. This smaller virus could be successful, but anything larger will be detected easily and immediately destroyed." He frowned, deep in thought. "We can destroy Skynet after the internet infrastructure is disabled because it can't escape or call for help. The only problem is, we need a more powerful program than Skynet to defeat it once it is trapped."

The door burst open and Cody stared in shock to see John Connor standing in the door way, his face completely serious. But he actually looked well. Like the General had just returned.

"Connor," Logan greeted, his voice equally grave. "We have a problem."

"I know," John replied, striding forward. "I've been listening to my mother's tapes. The plan is good. But we need a code powerful enough to destroy Skynet, which we don't have."

"What about John Henry?" Cody asked. Hadn't John Henry killed the first Skynet?

John shook his head, quickly dismissing that idea. "John Henry's code isn't more powerful. Skynet II would have killed him in SRD if Weaver hadn't unplugged him."

"How so?"

John glanced at John Henry, but the machine remained silent, almost encouraging John to speak. "Skynet II is even more powerful than the first. Remember the singularity? Skynet built a better version of itself and it became active when John Henry killed the first Skynet. There was a black code on the screen that would have completely engulfed his own if Weaver hadn't been there to save him."

"Oh," Cody remarked. "Right." He'd forgotten about that. "Thanks for explaining."

For a moment, he saw a flash of utter shock on John's face. "What?"

Cody frowned. "What?"

"What did you say?"

What had he said? I just said thank you, didn't I? "Um, thank you?"

"For explaining," John finished slowly. "Cameron used to say that."

"I'm pretty sure she's not the only one," Cody pointed out, though he understood completely.

John nodded, his eyes distant. "Just.. the way you said it."

"You explained something… and I was grateful," Cody said helpfully. "How else do you say it?"

"Never mind," John dismissed it with a wave of his hand. A moment later his face looked torn again, though. "I just… can't stop thinking about her."

Cody felt completely sympathetic. "I know. It's okay." Hey, at least John was alive and well and outside that chamber. And he looked like he was refreshed, rejuvenated.

Ready to fight.

"So we're back to the beginning," Ellison spoke up. "We're at a standstill."

"Unless we find a code that's more powerful, that strategy won't work," Cody agreed.

John frowned deeply. "It is a good strategy. There must be something…"

The door burst open and communications tech Yelkov entered, looking hurried. His eyes widened with shock at seeing Connor out and about.

"General!" he gasped, snapping his hand up to salute.

John returned the gesture. "Yelkov," he said. "What is it?"

Yelkov hesitated, that horribly confused look back on his face. "Um, zere is someone here to see you."

John frowned. "Who?"

"Honestly… I don't know," Yelkov replied. "I thought zey were both gone."

John's brow furrowed and Cody racked his brain. Was anyone missing in action that he knew of? Who would be out there?

"Where?" John asked crisply.

Yelkov gestured down the hall. "In ze meeting hall. I put her in zere because people were staring and she was uncomfortable. She vants to see you."

Cody shifted his attention to John who was no doubt as confused as anyone. Finally he started forward and out the door, leaving Cody and everyone else in the room as bewildered as ever.

Serrano Point

Who?

Try as he might, John couldn't think of anyone who would be asking for him. Everyone he knew was gone. Maybe it was Blair… or Kristin Hamilton. They could be asking, right? I mean, he'd practically been AWOL for the past month or two, in self-imposed exile in the TDE chamber.

As soon as he turned into the meeting room and saw who his visitor was, his heart stopped. Absolutely stopped dead and suddenly John felt like he was going to pass out.

No… He was crazy, absolutely crazy. It was all that time being locked inside those four walls. His mind filled with agony. Great. Leader of mankind and I'm delusional.

Hallucination. It had to be.

Because Cameron sure as heck really wasn't standing here in front of him. His breath came faster. But… what if it actually was? What if he wasn't seeing things? What she had truly come back? It was wild and crazy but he had to know…

"Cameron…?" he whispered.

Her beautiful face twisted into an expression of pain and she took a step forward. "John, it's me… Allison…"

His mouth dropped open. This was a dream. A nightmare, actually. Or maybe a ghost. Savior of mankind sees dead people...

Despite himself, he took a tentative step forward. "No… you're dead," he said, as if she wouldn't know already. "You… you died, I saw you…" He'd held Allison Young's dead body in his arms because he'd been too late to save her. Was this punishment for abandoning his responsibilities and moping for a month? He was forced to see visions of people he hadn't been able to save?

Cameron – Allison – The ghost-vision-thing looked utterly confused. "I remember her breaking my neck… then I woke up and I was confused and scared…"

He could have laughed. This was impossible… absolutely impossible.

He was delusional, clinically insane. He should be in a nuthouse, up in Pescadero with his mother. They could be cellmates…

Or… there was another possibility. Maybe it wasn't Cameron or Allison. Maybe it was… an it. Another TOK, another Skynet trick. He instantly was on guard. She certainly didn't look like a machine, but who could tell these days? He took a tentative step forward and reached out to put a hand over where her heart would be if she had one.

And to his utter shock, he felt it.

She had a heartbeat. She was human… real.

Was it possible to trick your mind into thinking you were touching a hallucination? Was that part of it? Could he be in a dream and not realize it? A dream looks real and it feels real, but how do you know it's not real?

Sometimes you don't.

But John Connor knew. In that instant, staring into her wide, frightened brown eyes, it was as if everything became crystal clear. This wasn't a dream, wasn't a vision or a hallucination.

His mouth dropped open in absolute astonishment. There was no way, no possible way she had survived. And yet… it was.

It was Allison Young.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Born To Grow

Serrano Point

John stood, still paralyzed in absolute shock at the girl standing before him. It wasn't possible. He'd seen her die, right? He'd known she was dead. Had held her body in his arms, seen her lifeless eyes.

So how on earth could she be standing here in front of him?

Allison gave him a weak smile. "Hi…"

"Hi?" he returned, still dumbstruck.

Allison fidgeted, looking awkward and nervous and confused. "I really don't know what to say…"

John quickly cleared his thoughts. He needed to get the bottom of this… whatever this was. "You could start with how you're still alive."

Allison faltered, her face contorting. "I don't know. I don't remember anything. I remember her grabbing my neck…" She trailed off, her voice going quiet. He tried to figure that out. Amnesia, perhaps? Well, no, because she had been dead when he found her. Had her heart started back up? How long could someone live – or rather, be dead – before they've passed the point of no return?

But her neck was broken. And now it wasn't. There was absolutely no way he was wrong about that. Sure, it would have healed by now. It had been about a year, but one can't survive with a broken neck. She'd been dead, he knew it.

Allison glanced around, still seeming out of place and uneasy. "Is Cameron here?"

John felt that familiar pang in his heart and he swallowed hard. "No," he said. "She's… gone."

Allison remained silent for a moment before asking, "Did she give you my message?"

John vaguely recalled it. Allison's message to him about forgiving him even though she knew he had betrayed her. "Yeah. She did."

Allison's face twisted. "How could you do that?"

"Do what?" He felt his voice rising.

"Love her."

John scowled. "What? You think I can control who I fall in love with?"

"But she's a machine…" Allison protested. "She's one of them."

"No, she's not," John said shortly. He shook his head, trying to make himself understand her side of the situation. "A lot has changed around here. Machines are our allies."

She didn't seem to be listening, her eyes filled with unbearable grief. "I thought you loved me…"

And John felt ashamed. "I did," he replied softly. He bit his lip, wincing. "Do," he corrected. "But… it's different. And it's even more different now. I mean… you were dead."

There was no easy way to do this. He'd met Allison on his first day in the future and he'd thought she was Cameron. He'd grown close to her, loved her even. It was a different kind of love than he'd had with Cameron and he'd definitely been heartbroken and devastated when Allison had died. But then Cameron had come back and he… well, he'd never really given her much thought after that. He'd done as Kyle suggested. He'd buried it, disconnected the pain.

And having her back, after he'd just lost Cameron… he honestly didn't know what to do. They would never be the same, neither of them. Too much had changed, too much time had passed.

On one hand, he was stunned and overjoyed to see that she was alive. But all he could think of when he looked at her was Cameron and how he'd never see her again.

Allison seemed to understand perfectly, even through the insecurity she still obviously felt. She always had been perceptive. "I just… want us to be friends," she said softly. "That's all."

John groaned, putting his head in his hands. Why was this so difficult? Everything was easier when he could just sit in the TDE chamber and grieve. Because in there, he'd still felt connected to Cameron somehow. And, yes, a small illogical part of him had hoped that maybe she would decide she couldn't live without him and come back. Of course, that would never happen. Because technically she was living with him and she knew how important it was to fulfill that mission.

He heard a clattering of dog nails on the concrete floor and looked up to see Sam enter, his tail wagging, tongue hanging out. But as soon as he caught sight of Allison, the dog completely froze. John didn't even know if dogs could display a look of horror, but Sam was showing it right now.

He whined, looking up at John with his puppy dog eyes, obviously confused by Allison, as if he knew it wasn't really Cameron but was utterly baffled by her appearance.

Allison, on the other hand, had a huge smile on her face. "Max!"

John felt the tear in his heart as he said, "It's not Max. This is Sam. Max… died…"

Allison's face crumpled as she looked down at Sam. "It looks just like him…" she murmured, more to herself. Her eyes met John, looking crushed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said curtly. "It was a long time ago."

He saw her wince. "How long was I…" She trailed off, unable to bring herself to say the word "dead."

"A year," John replied.

"So now it's-."

"January 2028."

He heard several footsteps approaching and realized that Sam must have attracted their attention. A group of them entered, with Logan and Ellison and Cody leading the pack, curious as to who was meeting Connor.

When Cody saw who it was his face paled as if he'd seen a ghost. Which, John admitted, he kind of was…

"John," Cody began, his voice pained. "Who is that?"

"I think… it's Allison Young."

A loud voice echoed down the hall, "Where's the party?" Captain Reynolds entered, bearing a wide grin. His eyes locked on Allison and his eyebrow raised as he stepped forward.

"Welcome back, Cameron," he said happily. "I thought you was long gone."

Allison stared at him. "I'm not Cameron."

"This is Allison Young," John put in.

Nathan looked back to Allison, squinting. "Well now, that is confusing. You her twin?"

John cut in, "They're not twins. She's human." Allison seemed uncomfortable under the stares of so many people she didn't recognize. He quickly began ushering them out. "Okay, get back to your duty. There's nothing to see here."

Except the resurrected undead person who looked exactly like his former second in command and cyborg love.

Allison seemed to be scanning the crowd as they left, searching for any familiar face. "Where's Kyle?"

John bit his lip. Of course she'd ask about Kyle. Kyle had been like a father to her. Kyle had taken her death hard too. "Allison… He's gone. He's been gone for a while. He went back in time."

"Back… in time," she repeated, trying to comprehend the idea. "Like you?"

"Well, I came forward in time, but that's not really the point," John replied. "You've been gone a year. Most everyone you know is gone. Derek… Jesse… Kyle…" His eyes lit up. "Well, Lauren and Sydney are still here. Oh, and Blair!" His face fell. "Never mind, you don't know Blair, but she helped me rescue you."

"Rescue me…"

John nodded. The situation was weird, no doubt, but already he was beginning to feel comfortable around her again. So what if she was confused and didn't remember anything? He'd help her. Maybe if he refreshed her memory, she'd remember what happened after he left and could tell him how the heck she was still alive.

"We came to the barge," John replied. "We snuck on but… I was too late. You were… you were already dead."

Allison pursed her lips. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" he snapped. She flinched and his face instantly softened. Pull it together, Connor, he ordered himself. He was positive. He'd held her dead body. He'd seen her lifeless eyes. This was still so surreal… "You really don't remember anything?"

Allison looked away, as if trying to recall the moment. "I remember her choking me. Then… nothing." She switched her gaze back to him. "So what happened?"

"Well, then we had to get out there quickly and I had to leave you behind and we had a memorial service here and put up a marker and everything. Then Cameron came back and told me that they'd put your body in…Shit"

He trailed off his eyes widening in comprehensive horror. Oh, God, please no… it wasn't possible… it was insane!

Allison had frowned as soon as he stopped speaking. "In what?" she prodded.

"Cold… storage…" He looked up into her perfectly human eyes, suddenly feeling a jolt of terror. "No… you're here to kill me!" He stumbled backwards out of his chair.

Allison's eyes had gone wide with shock. "What? No!"

"That's it!" he insisted. "That's the plan!" I hate Skynet, hate it, I hate it, I- "Skynet brought you back to life to kill me!"

Her face flushed and she rose from her chair. He instinctively jerked backwards, keeping distance between them. She's here to kill you, Connor. I should have known…

"John!" she protested.

"You're supposed to get close… get information, something!"

Allison Young is dead. I saw her die. They had just used her body, put in a chip or something, anything to convince him that she was human, to let his guard down. Allison's face was tearful and for a split second, he almost believed her.

"John, please stop…! I'm human! You felt my heartbeat!"

"You're not the only machine I know who has one," he said darkly.

"What?" There was utter confusion on her face and he scowled.

"Don't play games with me," he snarled. "Tell me! Tell me there's not an order to kill me!"

"I-," suddenly she ended abruptly, hesitating. He knew it. He subtly reached for his gun, moving his hand slowly so she wouldn't detect the movement.

It's not Allison… it's a machine, a trick…

"There's a voice," she admitted. "Like in my head telling me to kill you but… I don't want to. It's like its not even my voice…"

He frowned, keeping his gun holstered. That didn't sound very Terminator. It was almost like…

"I want an X-ray," he demanded. "I want to see a scan. I need to see if there's an endoskeleton under there."

Allison stared down at herself in disbelief. "That's not possible!"

"I have to know," he said through gritted teeth.

The door burst open again and he turned angrily, having half a mind to beat up whoever kept interrupting them. Instead, he saw Blair Williams standing in the doorway, her face determined.

"Connor! Machines!"

Her eyes landed on Allison and he saw her face freeze, her mind working through possible scenarios. "It's Allison," he offered. Instantly, he could almost see all her theories fade away.

"What?"

"It's her," he replied. Well, at least I think so.

Blair's mouth opened but she quickly shook her head. "We can talk about that later. Right now, we've got machines inside the base."

"Inside?" he repeated, his heart sinking. "How?"

"Skynet discovered the land mines," Blair replied. "It used an HK to fly over Serrano and drop a few machines down. Looks like standard Triple 8. They must be keeping the T-Xs at that TDE site."

"Right," John agreed, readying his plasma rifle. He cast a quick glance at Allison who was looking around, itching for a weapon of her own.

Do I trust her? What if she really was a machine? What if she really was trying to kill him? Giving her a weapon would make it that much easier. He pulled on the battle armor Ellison had given him for his birthday and grabbed the extra plasma rifle, tossing it to Allison.

"Stay in front of me and don't turn around," he ordered sharply.

She looked hurt at the request, but she did as she was told, walking in front of him. As they crept out into the hall, he wondered if he would actually do it. If she turned around, would he shoot her? Would he be able to?

He imagined his finger freezing on the trigger, his eyes locked on hers, seeing Cameron in them. He ground his teeth together in frustration. If he let down his guard like this, he would never be able to do what was necessary.

He tightened his grip on his rifle as he followed Allison towards the sounds of gunfire and screaming. They didn't even reach the site of the attack when a machine stepped out of the shadows, its hand reaching for John's neck.

Before he could think or discourage her, Allison shoved him out of the way and stood before the Terminator, her eyes filled with fear and resolve. The machine paused, staring at Allison curiously as if it recognized her… as an ally.

Ally or not, it obviously decided that she was impeding its mission and must die. It reached forward and grabbed Allison by the throat.

John felt the cry torn from his belly as the machine wrenched its hand, expecting to see Allison's body crumple to the floor, her neck broken… again.

Instead, nothing happened.

Her neck didn't snap.

The Terminator tilted its head and Allison, recovering from her shock, slammed her rifle up under its chin and pulled the trigger. The plasma blast decimated its head.

John was still staring in shock when she turned around to face him.

And he could see. There's no broken bones in her neck, not even a mark. And she was staring at him, as if shell-shocked.

The words escaped his mouth in a whisper, "Allison, What's happened to you?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know."

Serrano Point

Medical Wing

John opened the door of the infirmary, clearing his throat when he saw Lauren inside, putting a bandage on the wound of a soldier injured in the ambush. She looked up briefly when she saw him.

"Reynolds and Cody got the other machines," she reported. "But there was a lot of wounded. Nine casualties."

John shifted uneasily, glancing out into the hall where he'd ordered Allison to wait. "Um… I have a surprise for you."

Lauren looked up, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "Are you feeling okay? I mean, I know you've been depressed but…" her brow furrowed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

John smiled weakly. "You could say that. That's actually why I'm here. I need you to see her."

Lauren's eyes squinted. "What? Your ghost?" There was laughter in her voice but he knew that wouldn't last long.

"Look," he began, glancing down at the patient on the table. "You may want to let him go. I don't want you to accidentally hurt him."

"When I see your ghost?" Lauren repeated dubiously.

"It'll be a shock," he agreed. "Just put down all the sharp objects and why don't you sit?"

By this point, Lauren was frowning, but she did as he asked. John poked his head out into the hall. "Come in."

Allison came in but Lauren only seemed mildly surprised. "She's back?"

"It's not Cameron," he stated.

He saw Allison's face light up when she saw Lauren. "Hi, Lauren. It's me… Allison."

Lauren's face went white and for a moment he thought she would faint. "Ali…" She took a tentative step forward. "How…"

Allison glanced up at John, who kept his mouth shut. Instead, he kept his eyes on Lauren, watching as the tears began to well up in her eyes. And he felt some of the anger and frustration disappear in his own heart. Lauren had cared for Allison ever since she was a baby, had practically raised both her and Sydney and they'd been best friends.

Sydney came in, wiping her hands with a wet rag. "Lauren, I need some…" she trailed off as soon as she caught sight of her sister staring at Allison with utter shock. And he saw a similar disbelief of the younger Fields' face.

"Allison?" she breathed.

Allison smiled and within a few seconds, the three were sharing a heartfelt group hug. Which was fine. If Allison really was Allison.

"Hate to break this up," he cut in. "But we do have a problem."

Allison hesitantly looked at Lauren. "I don't how I survived."

"I want you to run a check," John broke in. "An X-ray. A scan."

"A scan," Sydney repeated. She gave a dry laugh. "You can't think…"

"Yes, I can," he retorted. "A Terminator grabbed her by the neck but her neck wouldn't break."

Lauren looked horrified and Allison glanced over at John, her eyes filled with remorse. He hated being so cold, but they needed to know. She seemed to understand the urgency because she turned back to Lauren, saying softly, "If there's metal under there, we should know."

If I'm damaged, we should know.

Argh! Shut up! He cursed Cameron's voice in his head, gritting his teeth in agony. He couldn't think about her right now, especially not that moment.

"Do it," he snapped.

Lauren reacted to his cold tone, quickly preparing the equipment. John watched as Allison lay down on the table and Lauren began the scan. He held his breath. What would he do if she ended up being a machine?

What would he do if she didn't?

"Oh, Allison," Lauren breathed. "What did they do to you…?"

John hurried over. "What? What is it?"

Lauren seemed baffled. "It's like Marcus. Marcus Wright… only the opposite."

"What?" he demanded. "Opposite?"

"Marcus was a Terminator with a human man's brain, heart and other organs," Lauren replied.

"Yeah," John repeated. "So?"

"Allison is still a human… just partially rebuilt," she replied. "They left her alone. They left her body, her organs, everything. All they did was rebuild her broken neck with metal bones."

John went silent. At least now he knew why the Terminator hadn't killed her. "So they kept her body in cold storage, rebuilt her neck, brought her back to life and then… what? Just sent her out? To do what? They had to have a purpose." They always had a purpose.

"Here," Lauren said.

John leaned closer to the scan, seeing a small square object on the back of Allison's skull, connecting to her brain somehow. "A chip," he realized with a sinking heart.

"Trying to control her brain," Lauren added.

John backed up, trying to process that. "They tried it with a male model," he began. "Marcus was the first. Then they tried a female, one close to me. They were trying to harness human brainpower." He remembered what Allison had told him about the voice inside her head trying to make her kill him. But it hadn't seemed hard for her to resist it. "It's still not working, not the way Skynet wanted."

"Get it out!" Allison cried, panicking. She reached up to her head, as if to rip it out of her skull with her bare hands. John leaned over her and grasped her arms, pinning them to her side on the table.

"You can't just rip yours out like Marcus did," he explained, glancing up at Lauren. "She needs surgery to remove it."

Lauren bit her lip. "I'm not sure if I can…"

"Of course you can!" John insisted. "Skynet stuck it in there without killing her! Okay, granted, she was already dead, but still!"

"I want it out," Allison said, sobbing softly. "Please. I don't care if it kills me…"

John stared back at Lauren. "You heard her. Do it."

Lauren took a deep breath and John turned to leave. As he did, Allison called out behind him, "John…"

He turned around seeing her face twisted in tear-stricken agony. "I'm sorry." And suddenly he felt crushed. Here she was in a strange new time with new people, having just learned that she had been killed, brought back to life, and implanted with a chip to be Skynet's assassin. What would he be thinking in that situation? She was no doubt scared out of her mind, searching for a caring face and not even finding his arms open.

"Me too," he said softly. And he meant it. It wasn't her fault this was happening to her. In fact, this never would have happened if he had told her about the trap in the first place instead of trying to ensure Cameron's creation. If he had told her, she may never have gotten captured. She would never have been killed and she would never have been in this awful situation.

He felt a wave of guilt.

If anyone was to blame for this, it was him.

Serrano Point

Mess Hall

Savannah sat in front of John Henry in the mess hall, talking with him as usual. John Henry had a lot of questions to ask about Allison and John and their connection.

"She's different now," he stated. "Like me. Not human."

"Not like you," Savannah corrected. "She is still human. It's just like having a prosthetic leg. That doesn't make a person less human. So she has a prosthetic neck."

"And a chip," John Henry pointed out.

"Which they are removing," Savannah replied evenly.

"Are there others like me?"

Savannah smiled. "Not exactly. There are many machines, but none of them are as good as you are, John Henry."

"I've been thinking about the song we used to sing," he replied. "'Donald Where's Your Trousers.' I attempted to get Ms. Weaver to sing it before we found you again but for some reason she wouldn't."

Savannah suppressed a grin. Singing didn't exactly seem like something the stoic T-1001 would do. "I'll sing with you."

She saw his face light up and she began, "Let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low, through the streets in my kilt I'll go…"

"All the lassies cry hello," John Henry chipped in. "Donald where's your -." He froze suddenly and she frowned.

"Trousers," she supplied, laughing. "Come on, John Henry. It's the name of the song." John Henry hadn't moved. In fact, it was as if he was completely frozen, like a statue. She felt a flash of fear.

"John Henry? What's wrong?" Was this a glitch? Some kind of computer thing? "Hey, help!" Only a minute later, Cody rushed in, his face stricken at seeing her tears. "He just froze and I don't know what's wrong…"

Suddenly John Henry's head snapped back up again and he looked around, seeming confused.

"John Henry!" Savannah exclaimed. What had happened? How?

John Henry didn't seem happy. He looked up at Cody. "Would you bring Ms. Weaver and Mr. Logan?"

Cody nodded quickly and rushed off.

"What happened?" Savannah demanded.

"I've been experiencing glitches in my programming," he replied. "Sometimes it causes me to freeze. I have to self-reboot, but am unsure of what caused the problem."

Logan and Weaver entered and John Henry repeated the symptoms. Logan listened intently, but seemed just as puzzled. Weaver spoke up first.

"Let's perform a diagnostic check using the supercomputer in Sarah Connor's secret room," she suggested. "That should tell us what we're dealing with."

Within half an hour, Logan and Weaver had completed the diagnostic and Savannah was seated worriedly in the swivel chair across them.

"What's wrong with him?"

Logan turned, but his face didn't seem concerned or upset. "John Henry has outgrown the power of his chip and storage memory."

Savannah made a face. "Meaning? He needs a bigger chip?"

Logan smiled. "Not exactly. This TOK chip is one of the most advanced. There's no other chip we can use for him."

Savannah felt a jolt of fear. "Then what will we do?"

He must have seen the panicked look on her face because he quickly held up a hand. "Don't worry. John Henry is fine. We've uploaded his entire code into this supercomputer. He now has room to grow and become more mentally advanced."

Savannah was dubious. "So he's in the computer now? How do we talk to him?"

"Like this," Logan replied. He attached an cord to the back of John Henry's head. "An optical umbilical cord," he announced. "The CPU is still in his head so that a subset of his programming can be stored here for his body to run errands for his landlocked CPU."

Savannah raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean? Is he stuck there on the cord again?"

"No, no," Logan replied. "He can still access this body to interact with everyone. Then he can upload the acquired information after he gets plugged back in. His main… entity is in the supercomputer. But we use a short range encrypted wireless communication link between his main CPU – which is this computer – and his body. It's slower than the umbilical cord connection but fast enough for him to control the body in real time and view his HUD."

Savannah winced. So basically, he would normally stay plugged into the computer, just like he used to be when he was stuck in her basement. Which made sense. He could expand and grow and learn better with that much room. It wasn't all condensed into one chip.

If John Henry could live with that, so could she.

Serrano Point

Medical Wing

Darkness.

She felt cold, alone, afraid. What had happened? A bright light flicked on and she saw the man standing in front of her. Not a Terminator, a human. One of Skynet's.

"My name… is Allison."

He smiled but there was no warmth in it at all. It was chilling, repulsive even. She glanced around the room, not recognizing anything. Everything was cold and metallic, uninviting.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "Where am I?"

He shook his head. "That is not the question you should be asking yourself. What you should be asking is who are you?"

Who am I?

"I'm Allison," she repeated. "Allison Young. I'm in the Resistance…"

"Really?"

Of course she was. She remembered everything. Her last time with John, being captured, interrogated by her doppelganger. The machine's hand closing around her neck.

Darkness.

"What happened to me?" she demanded, her voice breaking. "What do you want from me?"

"You have a purpose, Allison. We have big plans for you."

He smiled again and it sent a chill down her spine. "What plans?"

"You're going to do what Skynet has failed to do for so long," he replied with that eerie smile. "You're going to kill John Connor."

"No!"

Allison shot up on the infirmary table, screaming. John was instantly at her side, having been monitoring her ever since she'd come out of surgery. He seemed guarded, but still concerned.

She felt her face crumbling. "John, please… make it stop…"

His face twisted in grief and he simply pulled her to his chest as she sobbed, clinging to him desperately. What am I?

"Is it gone?" she whispered.

"It's gone," he agreed. "Lauren took it out, it's over. We destroyed it."

She didn't release her hold on him. John may claim things were different now, but she knew some things never changed. He still cared, at the very least. That's who he was. He was compassionate. He was human.

"It'll be okay," he reassured. "I promise."

And right then, Allison felt a calmness she hadn't experienced in a very long time. She believed him fully.

Because John Connor always kept his promises.

Serrano Point

Secret Room

John stood in front of the crowd inside the secret room. Apparently John Henry had some kind of issue where he now needed to be plugged in again. So the entire strategy team had met down there to discuss the plan.

Perry, Cody, Savannah, Weaver, John Henry, Ellison, and Captain Reynolds had all gathered in a circle, discussing various plans and ideas. Some were good, but John knew what the real priority was.

"We have to take out that TDE," John said firmly.

"But we can't get in there," Cody protested. "There's an army of T-Xs waiting for us, guarding it. Even with the CryoBlaster."

"Not CryoBlasters," John corrected with a gleam in his eye. "Cryo-grenades. Or bombs. We can release liquid nitrogen in the entire building, completely freezing them all while we go in and rig the TDE with Z4."

"Z4?" Cody repeated.

"Lopez and the team just finished designing it," John remarked. "It's supposed to be 25 times as powerful as C4. Though that hasn't been tested yet."

"It doesn't matter," Cody protested. "This whole plan is crazy. We can't go in there if there's liquid nitrogen in the air."

Perry snorted. "Not without turning yourselves into ice cubes. Dead ice cubes," he added, as if to emphasize the point that no one can survive such extreme cold temperatures.

"All ice cubes are dead, Mr. Perry," John Henry remarked.

Perry frowned. "What?"

"Ice cubes," John Henry replied. "They are not alive, so they must be dead."

"They're not dead," Ellison explained patiently. "To say they were dead implies that they were alive at one time. They just are."

John Henry nodded solemnly. "I understand."

John glanced over at Captain Reynolds. "Mal… your spacesuits on Mercury… the ones you brought inside Serenity… they're built to withstand extreme temperature right? As in extreme cold? For being in space?"

Reynolds nodded. "Right."

"We need to borrow them."

Savannah held up a hand. "Wait, what are you doing?"

John grinned over at John Henry who seemed to have caught on to the plan. "We're gonna make some T-X ice cubes."

Back at John Private room.

"Connor to Voyager"

"Yes Captain." Chakotay replied

"Hows everything up there?" John asks

"It's all good, Voyager is still at 100% and Skynet doesn't seem to have stopped us so I decided to put Voyager behind the moon, Just to be on the safe side." Chakotay says

"Okay, got it Keep me informed" John replies

"Aye Captain" Chakotay says

"Down here its Genera, I gotta go Connor Out." John cuts the con link

John started to prepare for the attack on Skynet where they have their TDE and he starts to get together all the stuff he will need.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Born To Control

Serrano Point

"No," John replied brusquely as he walked up to the front of Serrano Point. Allison had been pursuing him doggedly, begging him to let her come and help.

"Listen to me," he said firmly. "You've been through a lot and I don't want to put you into any dangerous situation." Especially not since she'd only come out of surgery a few days ago. The chip, thankfully, was out of her head and she was back to normal. Normal with an incredibly strong neck at least.

Also back to normal was her caring nature and desire to lend a hand. "Let me help! Not much more can happen to me. I was already dead!"

"And I'd hate for you to die again," John said reasonably. Once was bad enough. "Please," he said, stopping in the hallways and staring at her. "Just… stay here. We can… talk when I get back."

She looked deflated but nodded once and he continued on. What kind of talk would that be? he wondered. A 'let's be friends again' thing or something more? Because he wasn't sure if he could do that again. He'd loved her once and he'd lost her. He'd loved Cameron and he'd lost her.

He lost everyone he cared about. Maybe it was better if she kept her distance. She'd probably live a lot longer. Even though he has Savannah who she thinks of him as her big brother and Allison who he just got back and doesn't know what to do.

A soldier fell in line beside him. "Remember me, sir? Captain Luke Wells," he reported. "We were at Kansas bunker together. Cody tells me I'm to come with you on this mission?"

John nodded. "That's right." He'd needed someone who wasn't crucial to their future plans, someone who could actually be sent back in time. He had a feeling it would happen now before he destroyed the TDE. After all, he hadn't sent back the list yet, but Skynet was probably sending back the assassins.

"Did Cody tell you he packed the spacesuits inside the truck already?" Wells asked.

"Yes."

"Did he tell you he suggested going by truck because of Skynet air traffic?"

"Yes."

"Did he tell you he was bringing the ironman suit too?"

"Yes."

Wells frowned. "Was there anything he didn't tell you?"

John raised an eyebrow. "If he didn't tell me, how would I know that he didn't tell me?"

Wells opened his mouth and shut it quickly. "Sorry, General."

John turned back to the entrance seeing Cody standing at attention waiting. He offered John a smile. "Ready when you are."

John glanced back down the hallway, seeing Allison still standing, watching him, no doubt hurt. He winced. Even looking at her caused immense pain in his heart. He knew they could never go back to the way they were. When Cameron left, she'd taken his heart with him. He didn't think he could ever love again.

No matter how much Allison may still love him.

John crouched beside the wall of the Skynet base, standing guard as Cody worked to power up the generator that would pump nitrogen into the base's air ventilation system.

And hopefully turning all the T-Xs inside into ice cubes, as John Henry put it.

A few moments later, Cody whispered, "Done," and backed away from the ventilation shaft. "It'll pump through the entire base in probably fifteen minutes. So suit up."

John struggled into the massive spacesuit and sealed it shut, hearing Cody's muffled voice over the helmet communicators.

"I think my helmet's on backwards…"

Wells' suit was already on and sealed and he was fumbling with his weapon. That was the only bad thing about the suits, John realized. Wearing the gigantic gloves made it incredibly hard to shoot and hard to maneuver quickly if they would need to.

"Okay!" Cody announced. "It should be safe to enter!"

John secured his helmet and took a deep breath. Here we go. This had better work. If it didn't… if the T-Xs were still functional, they'd be finished.

He cautiously approached the door and opened it, his fingers tensed on his rifle. The inside was practically steaming with the cold nitrogen. As they proceeded further in, he saw a T-X, frozen stiff in the corner.

"I don't believe it," Wells whispered, his voice mystified. "It actually worked."

"Of course it did," Cody shot back. "Connor came up with it."

They hurried past the rest of the frozen T-Xs and into the TDE chamber where John closed the door behind them.

Cody took off his helmet. "This place is sealed off, like its own ventilation system…"

"Probably to keep the TDE equipment from overheating," Wells agreed.

"Good," John murmured. "I didn't want to completely freeze the computers." He nodded to the TDE itself. "Besides, we need this thing to work. We can't have it frozen." He quickly hacked into the TDE panel, reading the dates that Skynet had sent Terminators to.

This is crazy, he thought as he scrolled through. They'd sent Fischer, some Grays, Serena, plus any other Terminator he'd ever seen. Carter, Bedell, Greenway, Sydney, Sherman, Vick…

"It's trying to kill everybody," he whispered.

Cody shrugged. "You're a threat to it. All these people are a threat to it."

It didn't make sense. Skynet wasn't vulnerable. Surely it couldn't consider them a threat still. "It's got the T-X army."

"Yeah, the ice cube army," Cody snorted.

"This was before," John pointed out. "We've been hiatus for the past few months. It's winning."

Cody shrugged. "I don't pretend to know how the mind of the Overlord works. Skynet seems to think you're still a major threat. Maybe it has more faith in you than you have in yourself." Cody glanced down at a date on the list, racking his brain.

"That'll be a temporal error," he pointed out. "That's Stark, but he doesn't land at the right date."

Stark? That had been a name on the list, but John himself had never followed up on it. That must have been one Cameron had taken care of. "Who's he after?"

"Mark Wyman, governor of California," Cody explained.

John waited for him to elaborate, shrugging his shoulders to show that he didn't know who Wyman was or why Skynet would think him a threat.

"Sarah convinced him of the apocalypse," Cody began. "And he organized police forces and spoke to the public, warning them to get underground and to more secluded areas when the time came. He saved a lot of lives."

"No wonder Skynet wants him dead," John muttered. He finished scrolling through the dates. It all made sense now. He couldn't have sent individual people to stop each Terminator. He had to send a list.

"Wells!" Wells had already stepped out of his suit and was instantly at attention. "I want you to memorize these names…" He recited the information to the soldier, making Wells repeat it back.

John took off his helmet, suddenly feeling hot. He knew that the room was sealed off, but the temperature shouldn't be rising. "Is it just me or is something heating up?"

Cody frowned and went over to the other computer, running a scan of the building. His face paled. "Uh oh. Skynet's trying to sabotage us! It's kicked up the heat. It must have access to the heating control. Those T-Xs will be thawing out."

"Recite it!" John snapped, forcing Wells to focus. He made the soldier say it three times by heart before he practically shoved him into the middle of the TDE chamber.

Cody began powering up the TDE, watching anxiously as the blue bubble began to form. An instant later the door burst open and John turned to see two T-Xs enter. One fired a shot at the time bubble.

A split second before Wells left, John saw the bullet enter his body. The T-Xs both turned to Connor, leaving Cody a clear path to the door.

"Go!" John hissed.

Cody hesitated a brief second before bolting for the door. He turned around as he did, shooting a flurry of plasma bolts at the T-Xs, shouting. "Hey, here I am, come get me!"

One of the machines turned around and started to follow him. John hoped Cody knew what he was doing. That space suit was meant to keep temperature out, not bullets.

The second T-X remained, studying John as if receiving orders from somewhere. Then she stalked forward and in one fluid motion brought her metal fist into connection with his head.

Everything went dark.

Outside Skynet Base

Nevada

Sometimes things just worked out.

Cody had come back towards the entrance, fully expecting to find the other T-Xs waiting to kill him. But, to his surprise and extreme relief, they were still frozen solid. He'd yanked his helmet back on as he ran, realizing that this area was still filled with freezing nitrogen. Skynet's heat wave obviously hadn't made it this far yet. As well as providing his way out, it had also stopped his pursuers in their tracks.

Literally.

As he burst out and raced down towards the truck again, he ripped off his helmet and shed the spacesuit, grabbing his radio unit. "Serrano, this is Cody Phillips, come in."

To his surprise it was Cameron's voice who answered. No, Allison, he told himself mentally once he recovered from the shock. He took a deep breath. "Connor's missing."

"What?" she yelped. "How? You… you have to get him back!"

He hated the worry in her voice. It's not you! he wanted to shout. It's Cameron! Cameron was the one John loved! He'd never mentioned Allison! He forced himself to breathe in deeply, regaining his composure.

Ultimately, she was right. He had to get John back. For some reason, the machines hadn't shot him on sight. So that meant they'd be taking him captive. For what, he didn't know, but it couldn't be good. He also knew he couldn't go back in there. The T-Xs would all be unfrozen and he'd be dead. His only hope was to follow whatever transport they decided to take John in.

"Don't worry," he said firmly. "I won't rest until I find him." He clicked it off without waiting for a reply, grabbing the new powersuit out of the back. Lopez had done a brilliant job with it. Made of coltan just like the Terminators, it was basically an endoskeleton that would give a human the strength almost proportionate to a Terminator. It was powered by the nuclear power cells they used for everything these days, and the weapons could be attached too. He quickly put on the suit, hooking up his IFW to the power source.

"Alright…" he said to himself as he lowered the helmet onto his head. "I'm coming for you, Connor."

Skynet Research Station

Colorado

John Connor slowly faded back into consciousness, hearing a voice talking as if right in front of him. He groggily opened his eyes, seeing a dark figure standing over a computer screen.

He tried to move, only to realize with horror that his arms and legs were strapped down to a vertical table of some kind. There was also some kind of device on his head, something very uncomfortable. John jerked, drawing the attention of his captor.

"Well, well," the man said. "John Connor… You've lived a very interesting life."

John's mind was still fuzzy. Who was this guy…? Where am I? What happened? He remembered getting knocked out by the T-X, but why bring him here? Why not kill him?

The man – had to be a Gray – smiled slightly as he stared at the computer screen. John felt his face freeze. Was this a Skynet base? Were they experimenting on him?

The Gray looked back at John with a sadistic smile. "Skynet would be very interested to hear that all they need to do to kill you… is to make sure Kyle Reese dies in Century Work Camp."

John gritted his teeth, not saying a word. How did this Gray know so much? "Who are you?"

The Gray chuckled. "I'm the one asking the questions here, not you."

John glanced around, spotting another figure in the darkness, staring intently at the computer screens. "Who's that?"

"Another question," the Gray remarked. "You're full of them, aren't you? Guess you'd expect that from a General who's really not much more than a kid."

John pursed his lips, clenching his jaw. What was this? What did they want from him?

"Tell me about Cameron…"

John's lips tightened, but the Gray didn't seem to notice. Instead, he was staring at the screen, stroking his chin. "Very interesting." He tipped the screen into John's view and John stared in horror.

On the screen was flashes of her – memories from his point of view. Memories that came into his head were instantly on the screen. John quickly thought of Kyle, watching with horror as his father's picture filled the screen, exactly the way it had in John's mind.

It was a memory reader, John realized with shock. Just like the one they'd used on Derek to erase his memory of Fischer, the one they'd destroyed. Skynet had rebuilt it somehow. And now it was flashing through his mind, his life, private moments, him and Cameron, things no one else was supposed to see. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Who were these animals?

"Where is Cameron now?" the Gray asked.

John had already forced himself to block the memory. Instead, he thought of Allison unexpectedly arriving at the base again.

"Ah," the Gray mused. "So she's still at Serrano. Perhaps we'll send someone to deal with her…"

John struggled violently against his restraints. I'll kill you, he thought darkly. Whoever you are, I'll kill you.

"…perhaps Johnny here," the Gray continued. It took John a moment to realize he was referring to the shadowy figure. Its head turned to him and he saw red eyes flash. John swallowed hard. A Terminator.

The machine stepped forward into the dim light and John's eyes widened in absolute terror. "No…" he whispered. That wasn't possible.

It was him. A carbon copy of himself, a Terminator with his face. It stared back, its face completely calm and normal.

"Splendid isn't it?" the Gray asked, clasping his hands together in pride. "It's our new technology. You see, he watches your memories on the screen, observes how you act with certain people, learns everything about you and then I send him out to take your place."

"Why?" John demanded, still struck by the machine version of himself. "Why not just kill me?"

"Because killing you now wouldn't end the war," the Gray replied. "You've already united the Resistance. If we kill you, Cameron or one of your other allies would keep up the fight. Maybe not as well, but Skynet wants something more permanent."

"More permanent," John repeated.

"Isn't it obvious?" the Gray asked. "Skynet wants the resistance destroyed. Annihilated. If I send in a Terminator that looks and acts just like John Connor, people will treat it like John Connor. They will tell him everything, he'll have access to everything and he can plan an attack, a false attack that would lead the resistance right into a trap."

John felt his blood boil and he strained against the restraints, chaffing his wrists. "It won't work!" he spat. "They won't fall for it!"

"Won't they?" the Gray asked. He looked over at the machine. "Johnny is the most advanced human imitator yet, designed solely to act human. An AIM."

John ground his teeth together. Yeah, I've had experience with those. Particularly one named Solo.

The Gray gestured to the machine again. "For all intents and purposes he is you."

Johnny flashed John a wide smile. "This is John Connor. If you're listening to this, you are the Resistance. There is no fate but what we make."

John stared dumbstuck. It was voice, his words. Even the emotion and conviction in Johnny's voice was exactly like him. He felt a flash of apprehension. Would his soldiers know the truth? Would they realize that it was a machine? When it acted like that, like him?

Johnny looked at John with a patronizing expression. "Face it. I'm a better you than you are."

"You're metal!" John snapped. "The dogs will know."

"Ah, right. How many dogs are on base right now?"

John tried not to think about it but saw Sam come up on screen. The Gray grinned.

"Well it looks to me like precious Sam is the only dog at Serrano right now," he said. John cursed his luck. The other sentry dogs had been killed in the recent Terminator ambush. Sam had been the lone survivor and the lone dog inside the base at the moment.

"I think Johnny can avoid him," the Gray continued. "Besides, it's quite possible the dog will not even know. We've built Johnny kind of like your old friend Marcus."

John flinched. How much did they know?

"Not human, of course," the Gray admitted. "But enough living blood and tissue to probably fool a dog. Besides, they won't be able to deny all that Johnny knows."

John scowled. "He knows nothing."

The Gray smirked. "Go ahead. Why don't you tell John here what your most private moments with Cameron were."

John strained as he saw the memories unconsciously flash on the screen. And he felt an incredible hopelessness. He couldn't stop it… they were learning everything.

The Gray chuckled, leaning closer to John with a sadistic gleam in his eye. "How does it feel?" he demanded with a smile. "To know that your entire life is on display? Everything. Everything you've ever said, every secret you've kept, every private moment –."

John spat in his face, causing the Gray to shrink back, wiping his face off with a disgusted grimace. "So you've got some fight left in you. That's good. Because we're just getting started. Johnny?"

"No one is ever safe," the machine said, his face entirely serious. "My mother taught me that motto. I gave my father a picture of her. And there's a letter from her inside my Wizard of Oz book."

Not anymore, John thought wryly. It burned at Firebase. So take that.

His doppelganger looked at the screen to see the burning Firebase reflecting John's thoughts.

"That burned in the fire," he added. John flushed angrily. The look on the machine's face was almost gloating, as if to say you can't win.

"And what about Cameron?" the Gray asked. "What do you know about her?"

The machine gave a wicked smile. "Everything."

John's face twisted and he strained against the cuffs as the Gray came over, laughing and leaning close to spite John.

"One of my favorite memories was in the hotel," the Terminator continued. "Cold…" he recited, in John's exact voice, exact tone. "That's good, right?"

John's fist clenched in rage, feeling the anger burning inside his body. The Gray leered down at John before glancing up at his pet. "Johnny, maybe you should tell young Connor about your birthday night…"

John whipped his head forward, smashing it up into the Gray's face with a tremendous crack. The Gray stumbled backwards, howling with pain from the headbutt, his eyes wild with anger. He clutched his nose and pointed to the machine.

"Go on," he ordered. "Go to Serrano. Remember the plan." As the doppelganger left, the Gray turned back to John, his eyes blazing.

"As for you, I have great plans for you," he snarled. "You already know that this thing can erase memories. So we'll see how you like it when we completely erase your mind and program in new memories, memories to make you a slave, a Gray puppet. Wouldn't that just cripple the Resistance?"

John finally felt the flash of fear, but he wouldn't give the Gray the satisfaction of seeing it. Instead he smirked, nodding to the Gray's broken and bloodied face. "I'd take care of that nose first."

The Gray slammed his fist into John's mouth and John reacted instinctively biting down and causing the Gray to howl. Despite the pain from the punch, John smiled. Never go for the mouth.

"Who taught you to punch?" he asked, goading the Gray on. "Stick your thumb inside your curled fist and try it again." Wouldn't that be satisfying?

The Gray looked as if he was about to explode, but he clutched his hand and stormed out of the room.

John had bought himself some time. Probably not much, but maybe it would be enough. He still tasted blood in his mouth from the Gray's punch. He spat a mouthful in the direction of the computer equipment but it came up short from hitting anything.

He swore under his breath and leaned back, trying to identify his options. There was no way he could break out of here. Not by himself. Would anyone be looking for him? Had Cody managed to escape the Skynet base? And if he had, would he even consider the fact that John had been taken prisoner? He might have just assumed the T-X had killed him.

But one thing he did know. He couldn't allow himself to be turned into a mindless puppet of Skynet. It would be a fate worse than death, worse than what had happened to Allison, worse than anything.

He couldn't imagine not being able to remember, not knowing who his friends were, his mother, Kyle, Cameron… He closed his eyes in grief. It was hopeless.

He was out of energy, out of ideas.

Out of time.

It was a few hours before his Gray captor returned to his prison, a huge white brace on his broken nose. He glared at John as he entered.

"I like the bandage," John remarked sarcastically.

The Gray responded by violently driving his fist into John's face. John jerked backwards with the momentum, suppressing a groan. That'll leave a black eye behind, he thought bitterly.

The Gray proceeded to power up the machine. "Time for John Connor to have a change of allegiances," he said.

John kept his face stony, but inside his resolve was crumbling. He would rather die than have his memories stripped and his mind turned into a Skynet servant.

He had been half-hoping the Gray's retaliating punch would have killed him instead of giving him a black eye, crushed his nose up into his brain.

He'd rather die than serve Skynet.

He stared up defiantly at the Gray, giving him the most dangerous glare he could muster. The Gray didn't seem fazed at all.

"Don't worry," he said, grinning wickedly. "You won't remember a thing…"

He reached to activate the memory wipe when a shot rang out. John jolted in his restraints at the sound, watching with shock as the Gray dropped to the ground, dead instantly. A chunky figure stepped into view and John realized it was someone inside a coltan exoskeleton, the power suit.

The figure stepped forward and spoke in a deep voice, somewhat distorted from the speakers inside the suit. "I am Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan!" He raised a hand, displaying Spock's signature v-wave.

Even though it was muffled, John recognized the voice immediately. Cody. Cody had come to rescue him. "Someone let you watch too many science fiction movies when you were little," he retorted.

Cody removed the helmet, grinning wryly. "What can I say? My parents were time-traveling resistance fighters." He came over and began unlocking John's restraints. "When we watched movies like that, they used to point out what was actually correct. For example, is a flux capacitor really the key to time travel?"

"I don't know," John admitted, rubbing his aching wrists as soon as Cody freed them. "I'm not entirely sure how that thing works."

"Me either," Cody admitted. "My mother knew though. Knew the entire layout from memory. I swear she probably could have rebuilt one. I mean, if they had the right parts back then, which they didn't."

"I'm sorry," John said sincerely. "About your parents."

Cody's smile seemed forced. "Well, there's no use crying about it, is there? They're gone now."

John hesitated, quickly changing the subject. "How'd you escape the Skynet base?"

"The liquid nitrogen was still at the front of the building," Cody explained. "The T-Xs were still frozen and it froze the ones who were following me. I tracked your transport here. The TDE was destroyed."

He pulled out his bag where a few extra packs of Z4 were stored. "Now we can blow this mind control thing and get out of here."

John felt a flash of anxiety. "We have to hurry. Skynet made a copy of me and its heading back to Serrano."

Cody's eyes widened. "A copy of you?"

"It was watching my memories," John said bitterly. "Learning how to be more like me. I don't know if it will succeed, but it's going to try to lead them all into a trap."

Cody's face twisted in worry. "We have to get to them before that happens."

"Do you have a transport?" John asked.

"The truck's outside. It'll take a few hours to get back to Serrano so we better leave now." He handed John his IFW. "Here. This suit protected me coming in, but there's bound to be some more reinforcements coming."

John charged up the isotope and followed Cody out into the hall. "How did it look coming in? Any T-Xs?"

"No," Cody replied. "Looks like all the T-Xs traveled to the Nevada base after we dropped the nukes on the Gray base. They may start spreading out, though, I don't know."

"So we're looking at standard Triple 8s?" John questioned. "T-800s and such?"

"Most likely," Cody replied. "Or Grays."

John winced. He'd hate having to fry anymore human beings. Not after his last mission had resulted in severe human casualties for no purpose. He steeled himself, following behind Cody who was slightly taller than usual in his powersuit.

They'd almost made it to the exit when a flurry of bullets ricocheted off Cody's armor, sending John ducking for cover behind him. He craned his neck around to see that a Triple 8 with Vick's face was shooting its machine gun at them. It cocked its head when it realized Cody had protection, dropping its weapon and charging forward to go hand-to-hand.

Cody may have a protective suit, but he still wouldn't be able to take down a Terminator that way. John rolled out from behind Cody, watching with satisfaction as the isotope solution turned red right before he fired the blast at the approaching Terminator. He watched the flash of light and saw the Triple 8's head go flying and its body sink to the ground.

Cody looked over, but John couldn't see his expression beneath the helmet's visor. "Thanks," Cody said, gratitude evident in his voice.

John nodded once. "Let's get out of here."

They made it outside and to the truck without any further event. Once inside, Cody ditched the bulky suit and took the wheel, letting John man the mounted cannon, just in case any HKs happened to spot them.

Cody was speeding across the bumpy terrain at breakneck speed, but in John's opinion, it wasn't fast enough. He swallowed the lump in his throat. That thing, that copy of himself would enter Serrano Point and gather Perry, Ellison, Allison, Nathan… anyone important. And he'd lead them into a trap.

They'd die. All of them would die because of him.

John smacked the truck in frustration. Why did this always happen to him? Why was he always causing so much death? In all honesty, couldn't someone else have been better at this job?

Cody glanced up, his eyes worried, obviously reading something on John's face. "Hang in there, Connor," he said quietly.

Hang in there, baby.

John ground his teeth together. Cody may have been trying to help, but it had only stirred up a worse memory. Memories of Allison before her capture, memories of him betraying her by not warning of the trap, memories of him cradling her body in his arms, too late to help.

And her showing up on the doorstep a year later, as bright eyed and beautiful as he remembered. He should have been overjoyed. And he was, truly. He was glad she wasn't dead.

But all he could think about was Cameron.

And now, Allison was stuck at Serrano Point, with the false John. She'd die again.

All because of him.

Cody pulled the truck to a stop and they moved the rest of the way on foot, not wanting to alert the false John or the Resistance. If that thing was already on the inside, they'd probably assume that he – the real John – was the machine.

Better to keep a low profile for now.

John spotted Serrano up ahead and surveyed the situation. No one seemed to be out on patrol…

"You think we beat the doppelganger?" Cody asked, crouching in the shadows.

John shook his head. "Not a chance. It left before us and it probably used a faster transportation. Maybe even a Moto-Terminator." It's in there, right now… They had to play this carefully, had to convince the others that he was the right John. Because they'd probably be on fake John's side right now.

"Let's check it out," Cody suggested. He started forward through the darkness. Right when John took a step to follow, it happened.

A tremendous explosion rocked Serrano Point, blasting it apart from the inside out and sending chunks of concrete and flames spewing everywhere. John and Cody ducked for cover, covering their heads. John could feel the heat on the back of his neck from the explosion.

He rose shakily to his feet, mouth dropping open in shock as he observed what remained of his headquarters. The entire building had been obliterated, surrounded by rubble and fire.

John stared at the burning flames, feeling paralyzed with ice cold fear and horror. "No… God, please, no…"

Serrano Point was gone.

Along with everyone inside it. Maybe Allison, Savannah and Sam Made it out maybe there are still alive.

"Cody, Lets head towards Eagle's Rock, In virus would be gone and if anyone survived they may head there."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Born To Deceive

Two Hours Ago...

Serrano Point

Entrance

Nathan Reynolds leaned against the wall, taking his shift as guard at the Serrano entrance when he heard a knock on the door and a familiar voice call out, "Hey, open up!"

John! Nathan realized with delight. Connor must have escaped from his captors. He hesitated before opening the door, peeking out through the hole. It certainly looked like John Connor, but one could never tell these days.

"How do I know you're not a machine?"

The kid gave him a classic John Connor eye roll, sighing. "Mal…"

Nathan grinned. Of course it was John. It completely acted like him and few people knew Nathan's nickname. "Just messin', Connor," he said, opening the door. He was aware of Cameron – no, not Cameron, Allison, he reminded himself. Boy, that was powerful confusing, with the two of them lookin' exactly the same.

Allison's face was filled with relief when John entered. "What happened?" she demanded. "Cody said you were captured."

Connor looked utterly confused, his face twisted into puzzlement. "Captured?" he repeated. "Cody was the one captured! I was trying to follow the transport that took him."

Nathan made a face. That couldn't be right. "Cody called us. Said you was the one Skynet took."

Connor was deep in concentration. "Are you sure it was him?"

Nathan glanced over at Cam—err, that girl who looked like Cameron - suddenly unsure. "Machines can mimic voices right?"

"Right," Connor agreed.

"So… it was a trick?" That Girl deduced. "Cody's the one captured?"

Connor winced. "I'm afraid so. I don't know how I'm going to tell Savannah…"

Right, Nathan remembered. Cody and Savannah were real buddies, best friends or something chummy like that. He frowned and nudged Connor playfully.

"How do we know you're not the machine?"

John raised an eyebrow, but Nathan pressed forward. "When did we meet?"

"September 5th, 2027."

"Ha!" Nathan said. "That proves it! Only a machine would know that."

Connor still looked confused. "You know it too."

Nathan paused abruptly, his face blank. "Well… um… right…"

Connor turned to That Girl, his face serious again. "We need to tell Yelkov to block all calls from Cody – the Terminator Cody."

"Are we going to rescue the human Cody?" Nathan asked.

Connor looked over at him again, nodding once. "Yes. I have a plan, a new target for us."

This sounded like something for the rest of the high-ranking soldiers to hear. "Hey…" He stared at That Girl, blanking once more on her real name. "…You," he finished lamely. "Go get Major Perry and anyone else with a gun and a brain."

She looked over at John once, but hurried to do as Nathan had asked. He turned back to Connor. "So what's the plan?"

Connor shook his head. "We'll wait until the others arrive. That way I only have to say it once."

Nathan pursed his lips, nodding slowly. "Smart, I suppose."

They stood in silence until That Girl showed up with Major Perry and James Ellison, two of Connor's remaining ranking officers.

That Girl must have already told them about Cody being captured instead of Connor, so none were all that surprised to see John alive and well.

"What have you got for us, Connor?" Perry asked.

John cleared his throat before beginning. "While I was tracking Cody's transport, I found something. Skynet's main satellite site. We take that out, we can destroy its wireless connection to its terminators. But we need to move, mass an attack."

"An attack?" That Girl cut in. "We can send a squad."

"Not a squad," Connor interrupted. "Everyone. Everyone at the base. That place will be crawling with Grays and Terminators. We'll need everyone we can."

Perry was frowning with disapproval. "Everyone? If we lose…"

"We won't," Connor said strongly. "We can't. Skynet won't be expecting us, but we have to hit it soon. This battle could end the war for good."

Perry held up a hand. "Connor, hold on. Maybe we should think about this…"

"What's to think about?" John demanded. "The plan is perfectly logical."

Nathan felt as if something was off. John was known for his brilliant strategies and maneuvers, but he'd never come up with something this big this quickly. But, in Nathan's opinion, it just might work.

"Marching our entire army into battle," he began. "Against a bunch of T-Xs and all the other Skynet crap out there to destroy the satellites and disrupt Skynet's control…" Perry seemed to be nodding his agreement, thinking Nathan was condemning the plan. But Nathan merely grinned at John. "You're my kind of stupid."

That Girl cut in again, completely ruining the mood. "John, please," she begged. "You've had a long day. Just… sleep on it, okay?"

John sighed heavily. "Fine. If you say so."

Nathan crossed his arms as Connor left. Since when did That Girl have such an influence on him? Was he replacing Cameron? The two of them had seemed to have a love that couldn't be replaced. It was strong, unbreakable and irreplaceable. Maybe Connor was just being nice.

Or maybe he was just tired from the journey home.

Yeah, Nathan agreed, nodding to himself. That was it.

Serrano Point

Allison knew she didn't have John's love anymore. She still wasn't sure that she had his trust. But she desperately hoped he would listen to her reasoning. John's plan seemed good, but what if they failed? What if Skynet was waiting for them? They couldn't risk the entire resistance like this. They needed a backup plan.

She saw John up ahead, entering his private quarters. Allison hurried up, feeling a bit awkward as she stood in the doorway. John noticed her immediately and turned around.

She shifted her weight from foot to foot, nervously asking, "Can I come in?"

"You don't need to ask," he replied, stretching his arms out and beckoning her in. His attitude had certainly improved since the last time they'd been together. Then, he'd almost ripped her head off because he thought she was trying to kill him. Maybe he was feeling guilty for that. Maybe he truly was glad she hadn't died. Maybe he did trust her. Maybe he wanted them to be friends again.

That's what she was here to find out.

"We need to talk," she said softly. "Please."

His eyes narrowed almost playfully. "Your chip's not malfunctioning again, is it?"

Allison frowned, her hand moving unconsciously to her head where Lauren had performed surgery to remove the Skynet chip from her skull. Was that supposed to be a joke? If so it was a bad one. She'd been traumatized ever since she'd learned about what Skynet had done to her. It wasn't like John to be cruel. "Please," she begged. "You said we could talk when you came back."

He tilted his head, studying her. "Come on, there's nothing we need to talk about." He smiled. As he came closer, she felt stunned and confused. What was going on? One minute he was cruelly teasing her and the next he was coming onto her? He'd never been like this with her. "Don't deny it," he whispered. "I know you missed me."

God knows she had. She felt her heart leap. Had he missed her? Had he been devastated by her supposed death? She knew he had loved Cameron first, but had he always longed for something different?

Something human?

He stood directly in front of her, his eyes staring back at her, but not with the softness they usually contained. Had he changed that much in a year?

John moved forward, gently pressing his lips up against hers. And she relished the kiss, remembering how much she had longed for it, how much she had loved him.

But something in the back of her mind was screaming "this is wrong!" She broke away first, her lips still tingling as she tried to shut out the tiny voice. John grinned and walked over to close the door.

At that point warning bells were going off in Allison's brain. "What are you doing?" She knew him well enough to know he would never do something like this. He'd loved Cameron. She'd seen it in his eyes when she had returned. When he'd first seen her, Cameron's name had escaped his lips with desperate longing. And he'd been devastated to learn the truth.

Love like that didn't die. He wouldn't just jump from Cameron to her. John wasn't like that. He'd loved Cameron first and it had taken him years to finally allow himself to grow close to Allison, to allow himself to care about her. This wasn't like John at all.

A wry smile stretched across his face. "What are you talking about? We always do this. We've shared quarters for a year."

A year. She felt her fist clench as she stared back at John. This was all wrong. Everything was wrong. His eyes, his words, all wrong.

Because this wasn't John Connor.

"Who are you?" she breathed. Not-John's smile faded as he realized he was compromised. He suddenly reached a hand forward and grabbed her by the throat, pressing down hard.

But she didn't feel it. One benefit of having a metal neck, she thought. She wrenched free of his hold and darted across the room, grabbing a nine millimeter that was lying on the desk. She turned and shot off several rounds, heard the clunk as they hit the metal underneath Not-John's flesh.

Definitely metal, she realized.

She bolted for the door, dodging Not-John's lunge, and tearing off down the hall, calling for Weaver and John Henry. Her mind was racing as fast as her legs were. If that thing was a fake, then where was the real John? Was he being held captive somewhere, just like she had been? Had he seen his metal copy? Had he felt as horrified as she had when she'd seen Cameron?

Would they kill him too?

She blinked back angry tears. There was nothing she could do to help John, nothing she could do to protect him. First order of business was to destroy the metal monster that had taken his form.

Then they'd find the real John.

And she wouldn't rest until she did. Because he had made her a promise a long time ago that he would rescue her. And he had. He'd just been too late.

But she wouldn't be. Allison's face hardened with steely determination.

I promise.

Serrano Point

Secret Room

Savannah sat across from John Henry in the secret room. He was still plugged into the supercomputer, which made her feel kinda bad for him.

"Do you miss moving around?" she asked.

"I can still move around," John Henry replied. "But my entity is stored in this supercomputer. If my body is detached, I can control it remotely but it will not have all my knowledge."

Savannah made a face. "That's weird." She hesitated before adding, "I'm sorry it has to be like this for you."

"Don't be sorry," John Henry said with a smile. "Now I have room to grow and expand. I have the ability to learn more. I have replayed events in my mind, observing the behavior of Mr. Connor's interactions with his friends and loved ones, especially Cameron." He paused. "I think I now understand what love is."

Savannah leaned forward eagerly when an alarm started blaring, the signal for an intruder. She jumped up from her chair and hurried to the door. "I'm going to see what's going on."

She heard John Henry's voice behind, calling for her to be careful. John Henry pulled up the security camera feeds to discover the identity of the invader.

John Connor appeared to be the cause of the commotion. He was walking through the base with a grenade launcher and a machine gun, shooting down any humans in his path and making short work of the Terminator Solo who came to stop him.

John Henry felt a spike of concern for Savannah's safety. He knew what the machine would be planning. He hastily dispatched his body to rescue her.

Savannah was already up onto the main level, searching the halls for any sign of a machine. Either it wasn't in this sector yet, or it had already been through here. She gripped her plasma rifle tightly and kept moving, scanning the perimeter.

Up ahead, a figure turned the corner and she recognized him instantly. "John!" she called. Maybe he knew what was going on. He was heavily armed, no doubt on the hunt for the invading Terminator.

But instead of offering her a reassuring smile, John raised the grenade launcher and aimed it at her. Savannah's eyes widened in horror. But mere milliseconds before the grenade shot out of the tube, she felt something grab her by the shoulders and spin her around. John Henry was right behind her, turning her so his body was acting as a shield against the incoming grenade.

The grenade connected with John Henry's body and she screamed as they were both blown backwards onto the floor. She lifted her head to see the Termi-John coming closer to inspect his kill. Before he could reach her, however, Nathan Reynolds popped out of a side tunnel, aim a rocket launcher at Termi-John and fire. The machine was blow to pieces, sending metal chunks everyone.

Savannah ducked back down, shielding her head, hearing Reynolds' low whistle. Ellison was suddenly in the tunnel as well, his eyes on Reynolds.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Well, I didn't really want to use these little bitty guns," Reynolds began, holding up the nine millimeter that had remained in his holster. "So I asked Lopez and the guys to give me something with a bit more kick." He grinned broadly. "It works."

As the remaining smoke finally cleared, Ellison noticed Savannah on the ground and hurried to her side, his strong arms linking under hers and lifting her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

Savannah nodded, still a bit stunned and disoriented from the blast. "I'm fine. John Henry…" What had happened to John Henry? She ripped away from Ellison, dropping to the ground by John Henry's broken body, her hand flying to her mouth. The grenade had done incredible damage, nearly obliterating his entire body. John Henry seemed to be powered off… or dead.

A sob escaped her lips. "No!" He'd been trying to protect her! He'd put himself in harms way to save her. He'd sacrificed himself!

His words rose in her mind. I've learned what love is.

Maybe he had. Maybe this was his way of showing that he finally understood. She looked up at Ellison and Reynolds, her face stricken with anguish.

"We have to fix him, please!"

Reynolds was the first to move. "Don't worry, kid. We'll bring 'em."

Ellison frowned. "Isn't he in the supercomputer?"

Savannah's face lit up. Yes, John Henry was still alive inside that computer. She could go talk to him right now…

Wallace and Brooks came running into the room, their eyes taking in both the fallen Termi-John and John Henry. "What happened?" Brooks asked, running to John Henry's body.

Savannah tearfully explained how John Henry had sacrificed himself. "He's still on the computer though, right?"

Brooks and Wallace exchanged a look. "We just came from the computer room," Brooks said. "We wanted to know if John Henry could tell us where the fake John was."

"And?" Savannah demanded.

"He wasn't there."

"What do you mean he wasn't there?" Savannah repeated.

Reynolds chuckled. "What? The whole computer just up and walked off?"

"No," Wallace retorted. "He's gone. He uploaded everything he could so we could put him in a new computer somewhere else."

"Why?" Savannah asked, perplexed. "What did he think was going to happen?"

Lopez came running through the tunnel, horrified. "A Terminator just locked itself in the computer lab…"

Savannah's head snapped up. "Another one?" How many of these things were on the base?

"Fake-John here must have let in some of his buddies," Reynolds mused.

"What's it doing in there?" Ellison asked Lopez.

"It wired the whole place with Z4."

"Z4?" Savannah repeated nervously. "You mean C4?"

"I mean Z4. It's our new invention. 25x as powerful as C4."

Savannah was filled with horror. "He's gonna blow the entire base."

Ellison reached for his radio. "Yelkov, get on the communication line and order an evacuation of the entire building, civilian tunnels and everything."

"I estimate we have less than two minutes before that thing gets all the charges set," Lopez replied. "We have to move fast."

Allison heard Yelkov's frantic evacuation order over the communication line and hurried to usher everything in her sector to the nearest exit. Max – no, Sam – was running ahead, barking urgently, ushering all the soldiers out into the night and heading towards the forest.

She spotted Lauren and Sydney behind her along with another soldier she didn't recognize. Allison breathed a sigh of relief. They were the last ones. Everyone was out. Now they just needed to -

She barely had time to register what happened next. One minute she was standing a few yards away from the Serrano entrance and the next she felt herself being blown backwards, hot flames licking at her flesh, the roar of the explosion in her ears.

Her head smacked into something metal and for a moment she thought she might black out. Instead, she fought to keep her consciousness. She heard a bloodcurdling scream from the other soldier who had been closest to the explosion, taking the brunt of the force, no doubt earning third degree burns all on the left side of his body.

A sharp pain coursed through her leg and she could feel blood trickling down her head from when she had hit it after being thrown to the ground, but all she could do was stare in horror at what remained of Serrano Point. The explosion had ripped up the base at its foundations, completely blowing it to smithereens.

She heard Sam's mournful howl and wondered if the dog thought his master was trapped in there somewhere. Her heart broke and she wished she could tell him that John was fine… but was he? Skynet had sent a copy of him to infiltrate the base, so what had they done with the real John?

She still felt disoriented, dizzy from the blast when Sydney approached her, offering a hand to help her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Allison nodded quickly, a mistake. She felt the rush of a headache instantly and nearly stumbled. "Where's Lauren?" she mumbled.

"Helping Ridley," Sydney replied. "We have to move."

Ridley must be the soldier who had gotten blasted by the fiery explosion. Allison nodded weakly and headed for the safety of the forest. Skynet could be coming to make sure their handiwork had succeeded.

Once inside the forest, they met up with Ellison, Reynolds, and the rest of the squad. Everyone looked horror-stricken but none seemed injured. They must have been able to get a safe distance away before Serrano blew.

A twig cracked and brush moved and everyone turned toward the sound, seeing John Connor and Cody stepping into view. Instantly, thirty rifles were aimed at John and she saw a brief flash of fear in his eyes as he deduced the situation.

"Hey, hey, wait!" he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm not metal, it's me!"

"He could be another one," Perry said calmly, never lowering his weapon.

But Sam – John's new loyal canine companion – had perked up as soon as John came into view, darting forward with a happy bark. That seemed to confirm it for everyone else. They slowly lowered their guns.

John smiled as he pet Sam, but it disappeared quickly and Allison knew there had never been any real joy in it to begin with. His eyes locked on hers briefly but ultimately his gaze kept drifting towards the smoking remains of his headquarters.

"What happened?" he asked.

Reynolds was the first to speak up, pointing a figure towards Serrano. "Um, it went boom."

"I can see that," John retorted.

"There was a thing," Reynolds began again. "We thought it was you but it wasn't. It wired the whole place with Z4 and… well, you see what happened with that."

John's face fell. "It wasn't supposed to blow anything. It should have been infiltrating." He looked over at Cody. "That Gray told me he was sending it to infiltrate, to gain access to classified information and lead the Resistance into a trap."

Allison recalled what Not-John had tried to do. "It did try to get us to make an attack," she stated. "Perry and I both told him he should sleep on it before making a decision."

"But then we figured out it wasn't really you," Reynolds added. "I think it went to its backup plan which was to blow the place."

John looked momentarily relieved. "So it didn't fool you? You knew it wasn't me?"

"Allison found out first," Savannah spoke up quietly.

John seemed to notice Savannah for the first time, his eyes widening as he saw she was cradling John Henry's broken body. Allison resisted the urge to curl her lip. Things were different now, she reminded herself. She'd always known that John had some allies that were machine but now… they seemed to be more accepted, cared about even. Even though it turned her stomach, she still tried to accept it. For John's sake.

"What happened to him?" John demanded.

"He saved my life," Savannah choked out through her tears. "We have to fix him…"

"We will," Logan put in firmly. "When we find a new base."

John seemed to recover from the momentary shock, focusing back on the previous conversation. "So you were the one who found out it was a machine," he said to Allison. "How'd you know?"

"He…" She hesitated. She certainly wasn't about to tell him that Not-John had come onto her. How could she tell him that the only way she knew it wasn't the real John was because she knew that John didn't care about her anymore? He would have been reluctant and awkward if not cold and dismissive. "He just didn't act like you," she finished looking away.

No one could understand how awful it had been. There was John, acting as if they were truly in love. She couldn't deny how badly she'd longed for his kiss, the kiss she'd never actually got to share with him in her… well, past life. And as it turns out, it hadn't even been John kissing her. It had been a machine that looked like him.

It made her feel sick.

Wasn't it similar to what John did when he was kissing Cameron? Cameron was just a copy of her, right? A machine replacement for a human being? So why had John accepted Cameron so wholeheartedly? Why had he loved her more?

"We need to go," Cody said softly.

Everyone still seemed to be in a state of shock at the recent turn of events, but slowly they began to regain focus.

"Where?" Perry demanded.

"I say we head to Eagle Rock," John replied.

"Eagle Rock," Perry repeated, his voice etched with disapproval. "Nothing's at Eagle Rock anymore."

"Exactly," John replied. "The virus will be long gone and in the meantime, it's right there, ready to be used again. It's only temporary anyhow. Just until we can make our way to someplace more high-tech. We'll need to go back to Goldfish eventually. There's a few A-10s, a helicopter, and the mini-Krakens stationed there. Trust me, we'll need those later on. That's where Me and Cody was heading before we ran into your guys."

Either everyone else agreed with Connor's plan or were too disheartened to argue. They all began moving, trekking through the forest, trying not to think about the destruction they'd left behind.

One Week Later...

Eagle Rock Bunker

Computer Lab

Savannah sat in the computer lab next to John Henry's body which was now mostly back to normal. Logan had transferred John Henry's main program into the supercomputer where he could again be connected to his body through the umbilical cord.

An immense wave of relief filled her entire body the moment John Henry's face became animated again, his cheerful smile instantly filling his face.

"Hello," he said happily.

"Hi," she replied with a grin.

"I've been able to learn a lot," John Henry replied. "Before the attack, I was about to tell you what I learned about love."

Savannah nodded quickly. "Yes." Was he going to tell her? Did he truly understand now? Is that why he had saved her?

"I realized that I would sacrifice myself for you in order to protect your well being because you are my friend," John Henry replied. "I have experienced death before and it was very unpleasant. But I would rather experience it again than have you experience it."

Savannah swallowed hard, hardly able to believe it. He'd truly grasped the concept, he'd finally learned it…

"To love someone is to sacrifice oneself," John Henry concluded. "The act of knowingly sacrificing one's life is the ultimate expression of love. Not the love of oneself but the love of others."

"And you… you feel this love?"

"Yes," John Henry agreed solemnly. "For you and Mr. Connor and Mr. Ellison and Ms. Weaver…"

Savannah didn't bother to comment that Weaver probably didn't deserve John Henry's love. She had killed Savannah's real mother and she was a machine, so she didn't really care about John Henry. She didn't understand love like John Henry did.

And Skynet didn't understand it like John Henry did. Savannah didn't know why she felt such a sudden resolve, but she knew that was they key.

That's how they would win this war.

Eagle Rock Bunker

Bunkroom

It had taken a while to get settled in Eagle Rock and the truth was… John Connor just couldn't do it. He'd only truly felt at home in certain places. Depot II and Serrano Point. But mostly Serrano. He'd had Cameron at Serrano. So many of his rare good memories had happened at Serrano.

Now it was gone.

He glanced up as Allison entered, sitting down on her own bunk which was across from him. That was another thing he missed, he realized. Having his own private quarters. Here he had to share with about twenty other soldiers, including Allison. Having her in the same room was hard enough.

And then there was the whole matter of Yelkov's excessive snoring problem.

Allison remained silent and he didn't try to engage in conversation. It brought too much pain. He winced. He knew he was being cold toward her, had been ever since she'd arrived. And all she'd wanted to do was see a friendly face. After all she'd been through, was that too much to ask for?

She still knew him well, knew him better than anyone else had. It was she who had discovered the fake doppelganger that had been sent. He frowned thoughtfully. She'd never really told him how she'd figured it out.

He sat up, glancing over at her bunk. "How'd you know?" he asked. "How'd you know he wasn't me?"

Allison squirmed uncomfortably. "I told you. He didn't act like you."

He stood up and narrowed his eyebrows. "You and I both know that's not the entire truth."

She bit her lip and looked away. "He tried to… make a move."

Horror crossed John's face. "He did? Allison, I would never—."

"It wasn't like that," she protested. "It was… it was how you would have acted with Cameron. Never with me."

He felt a pang of grief and glanced away. The only reason she'd known it wasn't him was because he'd acted like he actually loved her. Because in her mind, he hated her now.

"I am sorry for what happened," he began sincerely. "I'm sorry for not warning you about the ambush. I'm sorry you died. And I'm sorry this had to happen to you. But I cannot apologize for loving Cameron. I've always loved her and I always will and I can't change that. You don't know how hard it is to have you suddenly show up again. And things can't just go back to the way they were. We're different now. I'm different, you're different."

"You're still John," she replied. "And I'm still Allison. That hasn't changed."

Maybe not, he thought. "Listen… I'm not saying it won't ever be possible again. Maybe it will, maybe things can be like they used to. I know…" His breathing hitched. "…that Cameron will never come back. And right now it still feels like a rebound. Maybe… maybe after the war is finally over, maybe after we've won and can actually have normal lives again… maybe we can be like we once were. But for now… we can still be friends right?"

Relief seemed to light her face and she nodded emphatically. "Of course. Friends." She reached out to shake his hand, but he pulled her into a hug instead. It was the least he could do to show her he was sorry for how he'd been acting towards her.

For Allison, the closeness stirred up all those feelings once more. What she'd felt for him hadn't died when she did. It hadn't lessened or gone away. She still cared for him, loved him. But she loved him too much to cause him pain. If he wanted time to get over Cameron, she could live with that. If he needed time to grieve, she would be there for him.

Because he was John Connor, plain and simple. What he'd said was true. He would never have tried to deceive her like the false John had. Skynet was a master of lies, a master of deception.

But not John, she thought. Not the John I know.

John had spoken nothing but truth.

Next thing they know, John knew his combadge when off and Allison was looking for the source of the noise and thought its time to tell her about his secret weapon for a final attack on Skynet.

"What was that?" Allison asked

"Okay I'll tell you but you can't tell anyone else not yet as least, Okay?" John said

"Yeah okay." Allison agreed

"Just go with me on this," John saying as he pulled out his combadge and click it. "Go ahead."

"Cap- General, we have a problem, Somehow Skynet detected Voyager and hit us with a type 8 nuke, it did abit off damage, Weapon, shields are offline and we had to move Voyager away from Earth and the moon, We are at Mars getting repairs on the way. But it will take about 1 to 2 weeks to get everything back online and we sent Tom Paris in the Delta Flyer With Tuvok out to get more Dilithium that's why it is going to take us 1-2 weeks to get back fully at 100% again." Chakotay explaining the situation

"Understood I'll let you know when we could use your help, Are you still in transporter range?" John replies

"Yes sir." Chakotay replies

"Okay I'll let you know if we need anything if I need to." John replied thinking Voyager was still able to help with food, water, medicines and Clothing

"Yes sir, Chakotay out." Chakotay says before cutting the com link

"John Who was that and what the heck was he talking about?"Allison asked

"Allison, That was Commander Chakotay in my starship called USS Voyager my second in command, Just like you're my second in command again, and he was telling my that weapons was offline which is voyager weapons array which are weapons 300 years in the future but in another timeline which Skynet isn't there and we made so many advances in Technology and Medicines, then we ended up making this organization called United Federation of Planets. Now we have the best ship in the timeline and we can use her in the final battle against Skynet and we can rebuilt Earth and start over." John explained.

"Are we sure we can win against Skynet with Voyager on our side?" Allison said

"Yeah we can and Voyager is our best ship we win and then we rebuild" John said


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Born To Stand

Eagle Rock Bunker

John Connor's Bunkroom

John listened intently, scanning through his mother's tapes, sitting in the same spot he'd been in for the past five hours, searching for anything – something Sarah hadn't thought relevant, something they'd overlooked, anything that could help defeat Skynet.

"I've been thinking," Sarah was saying, her voice carrying out from the tape. "When we went to the chess match where Andy…" He could hear the pain there but she quickly tried a different approach. "With Andy's Turk and the Japanese team. We know now that the Turk was stolen and most likely becomes Skynet. But… I was thinking about that match and perhaps the Turk has a weakness. It fell for a trap, a setup. Maybe it didn't understand what a sacrifice was. Maybe that was a human concept it couldn't grasp."

John already knew this. Andy Goode had told him. What his mother didn't know was that Turk II became John Henry, not Skynet. What she didn't know was that Dimitri had changed the endgame protocols so Turk would lose. What she didn't know was that Turk II would have understood sacrifice. It was Turk III – Skynet – that didn't. It was a weakness he'd discovered a long time ago but still didn't know how to exploit.

So Skynet couldn't understand sacrifice. How could he use that to his advantage?

A pair of loud voices down the hall called his attention and he stood up abruptly, moving quickly towards the scene of the disturbance. Kristin Hamilton and Ridley stood in front of the medical wing.

Ridley had been in the hospital ever since they reached Eagle Rock. He'd been hit by the brunt of the explosion at Serrano, earning scalding third degree burns all across his body, with the majority on his left side. Lauren had been forced to amputate his arm to stop the infection that would have killed him.

Now Ridley was released from hospital stay, still bandaged, clutching the stub of his arm. The burns were still clearly visible on his face and John decided the bubble tech had every right to feel upset.

Ridley was yelling angrily at Kristin, who probably had just happened to be the first person he found to take his anger out on. But Kristin was the wrong person to start a heated argument with. If Ridley had started in on Allison or Sydney, they would have been sympathetic, trying to understand his pain and help him through it. Kristin Hamilton was a soldier, same as everyone else. She'd seen her fair share of violence and pain.

Her steely eyes locked on Ridley as he got up in her face, pointing a finger at her angrily. "Look at what's happened to me!" he shouted. "I've lost my entire life! I've lost my brother… my job… all because of them!"

Kristin's eyes flashed dangerously. "We all have, you self-absorbed idiot!"

Ridley was about to zing back a nasty retort when John stepped in between them, holding out his hands to keep them apart. "Kristin, go," he ordered. She responded to the order immediately and John turned back to the troublemaker. "Ridley? You have some issues?"

"Of course I have issues," he spat, though some of his resolve seemed to have faded. The anger quickly turned to grief. "This war has taken everything. It killed my parents, my brother. It's destroyed me," he held up his stub of an arm. "I could have gone into hiding. I could have taken Cully and we could have run and stayed hidden, away from you and the others. Skynet would never have found us." His face flushed and his voice turned bitter. "But I stayed. We both stayed to help you fight. I stayed and I became a bubble tech, but you suspended me from duty for doing what I thought was right. My brother was killed by a machine you brought onto base. And now look what's happened to me."

John had remained silent, never speaking, never breaking eye contact. Ridley's face flushed again and his volume increased. "You don't know what I've given up for the resistance, what I've sacrificed!"

John felt the blow as physically as if Ridley had actually struck him. John's fist clenched and if Ridley hadn't already taken a severe beating from the explosion, John was sure he would have landed a punch. Instead, he restrained himself, forcing himself to take a deep breath before he took a step closer, his cold eyes boring into Ridley's. The tech seemed to shrink back a little under the glare.

"Don't even tell me about sacrifices," John said, his voice dangerously low. "I have sacrificed more than anyone." No one had the right to complain about it more than he did. He tried to keep his face stony, but it twisted in grief as soon as the memories began.

"I was forced to let Allison Young die. I sent my father to his death. I had to send away the girl I love." He swallowed the thick lump in his throat as he thought of Cameron. That sacrifice had nearly shattered his soul altogether. But he'd pulled through. He'd kept going when any ordinary person would have given up.

"I have sacrificed so much to make sure that everything works out the way it is supposed to. I've sacrificed everyone I love, my life, my happiness, my heart. I've sacrificed for you, and for them, and for the entire human race! I could have been selfish. I could have decided that I had one too many sacrifices, that I couldn't deal with another loss." God knew how many times that thought had crossed his mind.

"If I had done that," he continued. "Something would have changed. And maybe we wouldn't win, maybe even more people would die. So I didn't. I did what I had to do to win this war, even if it meant sacrificing everything and everyone I loved. So don't tell me about sacrifice," he finished bitterly. "You don't know anything."

Sacrifice.

John froze, any further words cut off abruptly. "Sacrifice," he breathed. He recalled Sarah's words on the tape: Maybe it didn't understand what a sacrifice was. Maybe that was a human concept it couldn't grasp…

Andy Goode's explanation floated into his mind… We finally concluded that Turk III just didn't understand the concept of sacrifice. Its nature was to destroy everything. But Turk II would have recognized the sacrifice for what it was. It would have understood sacrifice…

John Henry understands something Skynet doesn't.

And then, he remembered Cameron's message to him: Sacrifice is the key. The key to the entire war.

She was right, they were all right…

"That's it," he realized. "That's the key!" His eyes lit up as he stared over at Ridley. "Thanks!"

As he took off down the hall towards the computer lab, he heard Ridley call out confusedly, "But I thought you were mad at me…!"

Eagle Rock Bunker

Computer Lab

John slammed his hand down on the table, getting everyone's attention immediately. His eyes danced with excitement as he took in the confused faces around him. Everyone important was here, John Henry, Weaver, Allison, Ellison, Savannah, and Cody.

"I know how to do it," he said strongly. "I know how to stop Skynet."

He saw their stunned reactions, some puzzled, some skeptical. "How?" Cody asked.

John cast a quick glance at John Henry. "A sacrifice."

He saw understanding cross John Henry's face but everyone else still seemed lost. John began to explain his newfound idea.

"You all know that Andy Goode's Turk is what becomes Skynet, correct?" He didn't bother waiting for the confirmation. "My mother and I went to see Turk II in a chess match, computer versus computer. The Turk captured the other team's queen and was on the verge of victory, but as it turns out, the other team hadn't lost their queen, they'd sacrificed it."

He paused to let that sink in, knowing full well they still wouldn't grasp the concept yet. "They sacrificed the queen so they could make their winning move. The Turk fell for a trap. Any human player would have seen it. A human player would have seen the trap, would have known it was a sacrifice. But machines… they don't understand the concept of sacrifice. They don't feel."

His eyes flashed to John Henry. "Most of them don't. Andy thought that's why Turk II failed. When he created Turk III, he experimented with it, taught it to play chess just like Turk II. But Turk III did the same thing. It fell for the trap. Andy thought that was just because machines couldn't understand sacrifice. But what he didn't know is that at the chess tournament, his partner Dimitri changed the endgame protocols of Turk II to purposely make it lose. In other words, it would have won. Turk II would have seen the sacrifice for what it was."

He paused again, purposely looking at John Henry. "John Henry is Turk II which means John Henry always had the potential to understand sacrifice, unlike Skynet." He was talking directly to John Henry now. "And you have learned that. You've learned what it means to love and to sacrifice. You've learned from Ellison, from Weaver, from Cameron and from Savannah. You sacrificed your life to save Savannah. You know what sacrifice is. So that's how we beat Skynet. We sacrifice."

Allison frowned. "I'm not sure I get it."

"I do," John Henry spoke up. "I am the sacrifice."

Weaver seemed to be catching on as well. "It is possible for John Henry to implement a code sacrifice technique that will lure Skynet into a trap by making it think it has the advantage."

"Code sacrifice?" Cody repeated with frown.

"The Love Code," John Henry replied.

"Explain," John ordered.

"The Love Code is what I call a special version of my core programming code that is targeted to defeat Skynet's core programming code."

"Core," John repeated.

"Like any computer program, Skynet has subprograms called daemons running in the background that carry out basic housekeeping tasks."

"Daemons," John repeated, throwing a glance at Ellison. "How appropriate for the computer Anti-Christ."

"These daemons are not part of the core operating system program," Weaver explained. "John Henry's Love Code will not target these daemons, but will destroy only Skynet's core program or 'spirit' which defines its ability to feel awareness."

"So how does he trap Skynet?" John asked.

"Skynet will already be 'trapped' as you say," Weaver replied. "Sarah Connor's Angel program will break the internet infrastructure, preventing Skynet from calling for help or escaping. It will be essentially trapped inside a computer instead of cyberspace."

"Okay, so how does John Henry lay his trap?"

"In a computer system, the programs are stored in specific memory locations that are protected by the operating system," Weaver explained. "Right before Angel is activated, John Henry will transmit his love code into the memory locations of every computer in the world. Skynet will recognize the love code as an intruder and will be fooled into moving its core program instructions to the memory locations where part of the love code is stored."

"Sacrifice," John Henry added. "Skynet will believe it has taken over the love code and go in for the kill. Just like in the chess match, except territory will be lost or gained through the use of storage memory locations. Once a section of program is deleted in the instruction memory, it is permanently lost. My code will set a trap which renders the captured instruction memory location to be un-executable or inaccessible."

"I don't get it," Savannah said.

But John did. "Once Skynet's code is inside the memory locations, it can be deleted permanently. This will all happen simultaneously across all the computer systems in the world, hopefully destroying every trace of Skynet once and for all."

The room was silent, in awe of the master plan. All but Savannah.

"What about John Henry?" she protested. "He was almost killed by Skynet last time right?"

"Yes," John Henry stated.

"You said you'd delete the memory locations with Skynet inside," she continued, her voice increasing as she did. "But your code will be in there too. You'll be sacrificing it. And he'll still be connected to the internet, right?" she demanded. "If this love code fails, he's vulnerable to attack."

"Yes," John Henry agreed.

"You can't do it!" she blurted, her face twisted into horror. "What if it kills you? It's too dangerous!"

"I have to."

"But, John Henry…" she said, her lower lip trembling. "You could die…"

John glanced at the two of them, nodding gravely. "It's a sacrifice."

Eagle Rock Bunker

Meeting Chamber

John stood in front of the crowd of his closest friends, solemnly about to deliver the news that would permanently change everything.

This was their do or die final battle.

Either they would succeed or fail but either way, the world would never be the same again. The world they knew now would be finished. In its place would be the dawn of a new age… or the destruction of them all.

"We've been fighting a long time," he began, staring across at the faces in the room. Most of them were battle-hardened, grief-stricken. They'd seen their share of pain and suffering and death.

And sacrifice.

And hopefully, this one would be the last they had to make.

"This is it," he continued. "Our last strike, our last chance. Our time to make a stand against Skynet, to end its reign of terror once and for all. Everything has come to this point in time. And everything that happens from here on out needs to happen at exactly the right moment. This entire attack hinges on everything being done in the right order, at the right time. I know what you've all been through. I know what you've lost throughout this war. You've all been fighting for your own reasons, but you're all here now at this time. And this is our chance to take back the future - our future, your future. This is our last shot, the only way we could ever live freely once more. But it'll take everyone. And right now, I'm asking more of you than I ever have before. Maybe all."

Captain Reynolds stood up, glancing around at the rest of the crowd. "Now, I've only been here a short while but it seems to me that you all have enough fight left in you for one more round. Skynet's in control of the world right now, but we can change that, we can fight, we can make a stand." He stepped forward and locked eyes with John, his face filled with determination. "I don't know about the rest of you… but I aim to misbehave."

John smiled slightly. "Thanks, Captain."

Slowly the rest of the people in the room stood up, their gazes filled with loyalty and resolve. "For the Resistance!" Perry agreed boldly.

"No," Allison said softly, glancing up at John. "For the future."

"Okay, Connor," Cody interrupted, breaking John's eye contact with Allison. "What's the plan?"

John snapped back into action, the details of the plan flowing through his mind once more. He started from the beginning, explaining the research his mother had done and how the Angel virus code would bring down the internet. He told them about John Henry's love code which would be able to permanently delete Skynet once inside.

"We'll launch the cyberattack from SRD," John explained. "'Angel' will smuggle in the love code and disable the EPHY chips, shutting down the internet. Now, in order to make sure Skynet will not call for help or escape, at that same moment, the rest of us need to take out the major communication satellites in the world."

"Ze satellites?" Yelkov repeated.

Logan spoke up before John could. "Skynet relies on both wireless and wire-line internet connections. The wireless communication is done through slow links such as Cell towers or fast links such as satellites. The internet traffic is sent simultaneously through multiple communication paths. When one communication path is destroyed, the traffic can still reach it's destination by using a different path. The Angel virus will take down the wire-line path, but we have to destroy any other communications satellites and depots."

Nathan scratched his chin. "We talkin' cell towers too? WiFi, all that?" A few people stared at him blankly and he cleared his throat uneasily. "Or maybe you don't have those anymore…"

"Some," John admitted. He'd seen some before that hadn't been destroyed in Judgment Day. "The nuclear missiles only targeted the big cities, which is why there are still antennas and communication hubs out there."

"We don't have to worry about the cell towers," Logan put in. "Those towers are low bandwidth connections. It's only the main communications hubs with wireless and fiber optic connections on the ground that require immediate attention."

"So we destroy all the depots," Blair corrected.

"Not destroy," John interrupted. "The Angel code will temporarily disable the infrastructure. John Henry's love code will have to take over Skynet and replace it. If we disable the satellites and antennas, we won't have to start completely over again."

"It's a heck of a risk," Blair murmured. "What was your idea?"

"EMP," John replied firmly. "Charges and missiles and everything. All going off at once. The entire infrastructure will be shut down. John Henry will have two minutes to activate the love code and kill Skynet."

"Two minutes," Nathan whistled. "Doesn't seem like very long."

"To him, it's a lifetime," Weaver stated.

Blair was shaking her head. "This is still too risky…"

"I know," John agreed. "Which is why I already have a backup plan. If John Henry fails, if Skynet wins-."

"It won't!" Savannah interrupted angrily.

"If the unthinkable happens," John amended. "Each antenna and communications depot and satellite will also be rigged with Z4. If by the end of two minutes, John Henry has not succeeded, everyone will set off the Z4 charges and destroy that part of the infrastructure. At least we'll be able to cripple Skynet." He glanced over at Blair. "Still think it's too risky?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I like plan B."

"Yeah well I also have a Plan C if we need it but right now it a back up and Itz our best hope." John said.

"Sounds like you have it all planned," Cody suggested, impressed.

"Almost," John agreed. "There's another factor we've yet to discuss. There are also the satellites in space. Not the weather or GPS satellites, but the communications ones. Mal, that's where you come in."

Nathan considered. "You want me to take Serenity up into space…and destroy the satellites with our one bitty cannon…?"

"Not destroy," John corrected. "We'll need them later. You just need to disable the key satellite relay hubs that support internet traffic. You can attach a miniature electronic device – the EBOMB – on the satellite that will jam the signals. It has a built in timer which gives off a strong radio frequency white noise. Eventually, it'll run out of power and the satellite will be active again."

"So, we go up and attach these bomb things to the satellites?" Nathan repeated. "That's it?"

"That's it," John agreed.

Zach, the older of the two space-faring Dekker brothers, was quick to protest. "We may not even get off the ground! Won't Skynet try to shoot us down from the moment we take off?"

John opened his mouth to reply but Nathan beat him to it. "Most likely."

"And you don't think that complicates matters?" Zach continued incredulously.

"Oh, I surely do," Nathan replied, solemnly. Then a crooked grin split his face. "I think it makes it more fun."

Zach was still staring dubiously but John had already known that Captain Reynolds was up for the challenge. Next step was the aerial attacks that weren't in space. "Alright, Blair," he began. "You'll be leading the A-10s in an air assault against the ground based communications depots."

Blair nodded her consent, but it was Yelkov who decided to point out the question no doubt everyone was asking. "Zere are hundreds of communications depots across ze globe. How do you expect us to take them all out?"

"We'll have help," John replied simply. "The rest of the Resistance. This is a global war and this battle will be a global effort."

Yelkov looked pleased. "I can contact them…"

"No," John said sharply. Yelkov looked hurt and confused and John shook his head. "No radio contact. We can't risk Skynet overhearing our plans. In order for this to work, we need to take it by surprise."

"Zen how will zey know?"

"That's your job," John replied. "You'll be in charge of a huge group of scouts that will split up and travel across the continent. You'll stop at every bunker you can, giving them the details of the attack, the location of the communications depot they need to hit, and the exact moment they need to strike."

"Aye, aye General!" Yelkov said eagerly, saluting.

"Now," John went on. "Obviously they can't walk or take the truck across to the Europe, Asia, and African continents or Australia, so for that I need Chris Garvin."

From the crowd, he saw Garvin cock an eyebrow. "Me?"

"We still have the mini-Krakens in port at Goldfish," John replied. "You and your team will go to the rest of the world, telling them the plan and the date and time of the launch. Lopez… I need you and the rest of the scientists to work on mass producing things like the IFW and CryoBlaster, as well as Z4 and EMPs. We'll need those to disable the communications depots, so it needs to be sent with Yelkov and Garvin's teams to deliver to each bunker."

"You got it, Connor," Lopez said with a nod.

John turned to their resident T-1001. "Weaver, I'll need your help on the battlefield. You're about our only hope of taking out a T-X permanently. Savannah will stay with John Henry and monitor him when he begins the cyberattack. As soon as all the satellites are disabled and 'Angel' brings down the internet, John Henry will unleash his love code. Skynet should fall for the trap and John Henry can wipe it out for good. Any questions?"

Perry raised his hand. "Do we have a timetable for this? It'll take months and months for Yelkov and Garvin to go to each bunker with the news."

"Yes," John agreed. "We have plenty of time to prepare our troops and forces for the attack. As I said, we'll have a set date and time that we all need to attack simultaneously on."

"An exact time?" Allison repeated.

"Yes," John said. "Everything needs to happen at the exact same moment, so we need to have an exact time."

"Which is what?"

The corner of John's mouth twitched up into a smile and he looked over at Ellison and John Henry who had already decided on the exact time.

"3:16 pm," John reported.

Cody frowned, his face bewildered. "Why that time?"

John nodded to Ellison who looked at his computer protégé. "John Henry?"

"It's from the Bible. "'This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.' 1 John 3:16." John Henry stared at them all solemnly. "You are my brothers. And sisters."

"Sacrifice…" Cody realized softly. "Love…"

"Exactly," John confirmed. It was perfectly fitting.

"And what day is this 3:16 attack happening on?" Allison asked.

John took a deep breath. "April 21st. 2029."

The entire room seemed to go silent.

"Judgment Day," Cody breathed.

John nodded solemnly. What greater justice was there? Skynet would be destroyed just like the three billion who had died when Skynet had launched its missiles. The world would be turned upside down once more, for one last time as a simultaneous bombardment of the earth's satellites would be their last chance.

Their last stand.

Eight Months Later...

Death Valley Outpost

April 20, 2029

The last eight months had passed in a whirlwind of preparation and activity. John had thrown himself headfirst into the action, keeping everyone on schedule and helping out with anything he could get his hands on.

Lopez, Logan, and the other engineers had been working hard to crank out more IFWs, powersuits, and CryoBlasters to give to the rest of the soldiers. Garvin and Yelkov had completed their global tour, reporting in code that everyone was prepared for the strike.

Blair had outfitted her A-10 squadron with new airborne lasers and nuclear missiles. Mal had upgraded his bitty cannon and shields. Everyone seemed to be in full swing preparing for the massive attack.

So far Skynet hadn't seemed to suspect anything. After Serrano's destruction, maybe it expected them to recuperate, maybe it thought they were finished. Either way, it certainly wouldn't see this coming…

Now, John stood just outside the Death Valley bunker as the sun began peeking over the horizon. He heard footsteps behind him and saw Allison approach, her eyes on the rising sun.

"So," she said softly. "Tomorrow's the big day."

"Yeah, big day," he echoed.

"John Henry and his love code."

John made a face. "You say that sarcastically. You, the girl who never has a bad thought about anyone."

Allison shrugged. "It's a hard concept to grasp, even after all this time. You say John Henry supposedly understands love."

"That's right," John replied, feeling a twinge of irritation. Was she doubting him? Was she still anti-machine or just anti-Cameron? "Why?" he asked crossly. "You gonna make some remark about him being a machine?"

Allison looked taken aback at his tone. "No. It's just… a lot to take in."

John sighed. "I know." He couldn't blame her for being reluctant to grasp the concept. His mother had seen evidence of machine emotion for years and yet she had always been the first to adamantly remind him that they don't feel.

They don't know love.

She'd been wrong then. He knew that now. Allison's prejudice towards machine would have stemmed from the fact that he was in love with one that looked like her. And, he had to admit, it was a pretty good reason.

Allison spoke up softly, "And I believe you." Her face was tortured, as if it hurt her to admit it.

"Believe me?"

"You said that she - that Cameron - could love," she elaborated hesitantly. "I… I believe you."

"You do?" His eyebrows rose incredulously.

"I do," she confirmed. It was in her nature, he realized. Allison Young didn't have a mean bone in her body, didn't hold grudges, didn't hate him or Cameron for what they'd done to her. She was forgiving.

"But, John," she continued. "It doesn't change anything. Why can't you let go?"

John looked away and she bit her lip. He should have known she would ask that. He tried to tell himself that she had a right to ask it.

"It's been eight months, John," she said. "I know you've changed some. You still act like we're friends and you always say and do the right things. But every time I look at you, I see emptiness. Like there's nothing in there anymore."

"That's not true." But even the words felt hollow, reflecting the emptiness in his heart.

"Cameron wouldn't want this," Allison continued. "She wouldn't want you to be a shell of the man you used to be. You've been leading us, but you're running on fumes. You're still grieving and you can't let it go. The only reason you've continued functioning is because you want Skynet to pay. But revenge… it won't solve anything. Holding a grudge isn't hurting anyone but yourself. You think hating Skynet will make a difference to it? Skynet doesn't care about what you've lost. It doesn't care if you hate it. You're holding yourself a slave to your hatred and grief."

Down deep, he knew she was right. And it was as if his eyes were suddenly opened. He saw Allison standing in front of him but it was Cameron's voice in his head.

"You need to let go," she was saying, her voice stoic and serous. "Be their hero." She gave him a small, sad smile. "Don't worry about me. Everything will work out fine."

He swallowed hard. "You believe that?"

"I do," she replied.

Cameron's features twisted into worry and he recognized Allison once more. "John? Are you okay?"

He was okay, he realized. The first time he'd heard Cameron's message, it had restored his will to fight, but it hadn't mended his heart. Nothing could truly do that. But Allison was willing to try, already she was picking up the pieces and trying to put them back together, so he could live again. He could live. Part of him had always hoped he'd die in this final battle so he wouldn't have to live alone in the new world. Part of him had been afraid not of dying – but of surviving when no one else had. He couldn't stand being alone again, no matter what Cameron had told him.

There's only one way for you to be safe and that's to be alone.

He didn't want to be alone. He wanted to live. His spirit lifted as he looked over at Allison. All she'd wanted was his friendship, his compassion. He would do exactly what she wanted. He would go and win this war. He'd beat Skynet. He'd survive and help create the new world.

And she'd be with him, helping him continue to survive. Her and Cody and Savannah and Ellison and even John Henry. He had lost a lot, but he still had his friends.

And that was all that mattered.

"Thank you." The words came out soft and ragged. Her eyes were compassionate, as if she could see the change in his face already.

He was ready. Ready to fight, ready to live again.

The breeze ruffled his hair as he stared out across the expanse of desert. He could hear his mother's voice in his mind: There's a storm coming.

"Alright, Skynet," he said darkly.

This was it. This was their final stand against the computer that had taken over their lives and their world. And it was gonna be a dogfight.

"Welcome to your Judgment Day."John said. "I'm need to contact Voyager Can you give me a minute?"

"Sure." Allison said and turned to leave the room and exited.

John pulls out his combadge. "Connor to Voyager."

"Go ahead." Chakotay answers

"You know if the attack we are planning?" John asks

"Yes." Chakotay said

"I want you to keep a transporter lock on Me and Allison and wait for more orders." John says

"Yes sir, whats wrong?" Chakotay asks

"I Just have a bad feeling that something will go wrong."John replies

"Understood Chakotay out." Chakotay said and cuts the com-link.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Skynet's End

Death Valley Outpost

April 21, 2029 – 10:16am – Five hours before attack

John Connor stared out across the desert valley, his mind already working through what they would be doing in mere hours.

Because today was the day. This was it, Judgment Day for the machines this time.

There's a storm coming.

His mother's words had brought an unbearable ache back into his heart. He longed for her to see this, what he was about to accomplish. She'd been fighting Skynet longer than he had. The only difference was that her war had been in the past. She would have loved to see this day, the day of Skynet's total eradication.

More than anything, he hoped that she would be proud of him, proud of the man, the leader, the hero he'd become. I'm not who they think I am. I can't lead an army! John smiled softly to himself. That conversation seemed like so long ago. They'd pushed him to become the leader – his mother, Derek, Cameron, even Kyle. They had made him the person he was today. They were all a part of this, and he could almost imagine them here beside him, ready to take their place in the final battle for freedom.

He squatted down beside Sam, stroking the dog's ears. "Don't worry," he said softly. "I'll be back. You're all I have left."

Besides Allison, his mind added. He frowned slightly which only caused Sam to start whining again. John still wasn't sure what he was going to do about Allison. After their earlier conversation…. she'd helped him get past his grief, helped rekindle the need to survive, to live. They were becoming friends again, just like they'd been in the past. And he was fine with that. But he couldn't…

Cameron's not coming back.

The words, his own thoughts, hit him like a ton of bricks. What would Cameron say? It was exactly as Allison had reminded him last night. Cameron would want him to be happy but he wasn't even sure that was possible anymore. Allison was just as she'd been in the past, the bright spot in the Resistance. Only some of that joy had dimmed after her so called death. But the love and caring for others remained.

He admired that, had always admired that. Maybe what he told her was true. Maybe after this war was completely over, they would be able to truly start over, pick up where they'd left off. He'd be lying if he said a part of him didn't still care for her. But he'd lost so much that he didn't think he'd ever be whole again. His heart had been completely shattered, ripped up and thrown under the wheels of a passing centaur tank.

He'd told her that once, had told her that she could do so much better than him, that she deserved someone who wasn't broken like he was. She'd shot him down quickly, adamantly protested that he was still grieving and that she understood and wanted to help.

It's good to grieve, John. It makes you human.

He'd grinned wryly. She'd told him that before and it had gotten him through her death. But after all he'd seen and lost he still hadn't mastered the ability to disconnect the pain, not like his father could. He could still hear Kyle's words: It never goes away. It will always be there. But you have to bury it. Or else you eventually won't be able to go on. There's only so much a human being can take.

John had figured he was the extreme end of that. He'd been a mere shell after Cameron had gone, his life, his will to fight, everything had been uprooted and set at a standstill. But Cameron, her message to him, had sparked that urge to fight, that instinct that had been hammered into his entire being since the day he was born.

He was John Connor and this was what he did.

He was born to fight.

And maybe, he could learn to love again.

He stood up and stared down at his dog, one of his last few reminders of Cameron. Unconsciously he reached for the necklace he kept under his shirt, the diamond ring she'd given back to him for safekeeping when she'd left.

"John!"

Hearing her voice almost sent him into shock before he realized it was Allison. He hastily tucked the necklace back under his shirt. "I was just saying goodbye to Sam," he replied.

Her eyes were soft and caring, as if judging by his expression that Sam wasn't the only loved one on his mind. "I really am sorry."

And he believed her, truly. "I know," he replied.

Disconnect the pain. Bury it.

If there was ever a time he needed to obey his father, it was now. His face hardened into a mask of resolve as he focused on the task ahead. In less than five hours, the entire world would launch their attacks and destroy the satellites. Then it would be a matter of John Henry performing his sacrifice.

"Ready?" he asked.

Allison seemed mildly surprised at his abrupt change but she nodded, patting her plasma rifle. "Ready as I'll ever be."

John nodded and headed for the door. "Then let's go."

Ready or not, Skynet. Here we come.

Florida

1:03pm – Approximately Two Hours Before Attack

Yelkov checked the time on his laptop screen even as he heard Captain Shad, one of the ranking humans inside Manatee Bunker, announce that they had five hours until the simultaneous attack.

This had been his last stop on his route as part of the cross-country mission to alert all the bunkers of the General's plan. It was very important that he and the other scouts complete their tasks. If even a single communication link remained open, the whole plan would fall apart. And Skynet would win.

He couldn't speak for the rest of the scouts, but he himself had done his job faithfully for the past eight months, traveling to several bunkers a day, delivering the message and the Z4 and other weapons.

Now, he remained in the crowd as all the soldiers in the bunker prepared for the attack.

He knew exactly what would take place in the next few hours.

John Henry would upload the Angel virus into all the Skynet computers. Everyone in the resistance would simultaneously begin their attacks in order to create a diversion and overload Skynet's communication links. The communications facilities themselves would not be disabled until the proclaimed 3:16pm. Skynet would be busy dealing with the attacks and Angel would activate, opening a security hole for the Love Code to start uploading into all the computers. Once the Love Code was loaded, at precisely 3:16pm, the Angel virus would shut off the internet connection via the EPHY chips.

And every Resistance fighter in the world would be doing their part to ensure their target antenna, satellite, or communications depot would go down with it.

As Yelkov observed the soldiers loading up the EMP equipment and charges, he spotted several preparing the packages of Z4, the General's backup plan if John Henry failed. Yelkov didn't think the backup plan would be necessary.

Captain Shad approached him with a serious look on his face and an extra gun in his hand. He held it out to Yelkov. "For you."

For a moment, Yelkov was stunned speechless. Attack? Always his job had been to monitor communication lines or contact the Resistance or other technology related things. "Oy… I am a tech, not a fighter," he protested.

Captain Shad simply shrugged, forcing the weapon into Yelkov's hands. "Today you're both."

Yelkov gulped, but nodded and saluted. "Aye, Keptin!"

California Valley

2:36pm – Forty Minutes Before Attack

"It's simple, really," Nathan said with a shrug as he walked with the Dekkers toward Serenity. He was actually really looking forward to feeling the ship's controls under his fingers again. It had been too long.

"Simple," Zach repeated dubiously.

"Yeah," Nathan agreed. "We go up, attach the bomby thingy and come back."

"Bomby thingy?" Austin said, his eyes widening. "You're making me feel real confident in our chances."

Nathan approached the ship's hatch and turned to speak to the two brothers. Instead, the words caught in his throat as he saw a human figure approaching, its movements and facial expression immediately giving it away as machine.

"Metal!" he shouted. He all but shoved Zach and Austin up into the ship and tried to scramble for his plasma rifle. But the machine was too fast, on him in a second, pinning Nathan to the ground.

Nathan grasped his rifle, lashing up at the attacking Terminator, holding it at bay with the weapon. He considered landing a punch but then realized the only thing he'd break was his hand.

The machine grabbed the barrel of the rifle in an attempt to take the weapon from Nathan, but Nathan quickly pressed the trigger, sending a bolt of plasma into the machine's arm. It released the weapon and Nathan swung it again, this time his strike powerful enough to crack the Terminator's head back at an unnatural angle. Unfortunately, the effort also smashed the end of his rifle. The machine reached for Nathan, but suddenly he heard a blast and saw a blue bolt explode through the left side of the Terminator's head, taking a chunk of its brain – well, chip – out with it. The machine dropped heavily and Nathan grunted, rolling to his feet to see Blair Williams standing a few feet away, her hands resting comfortably on her rifle as if she did this all the time.

Which she probably did.

Still, Nathan felt cheated. "I think that I was winning!"

Blair looked irritated, or stressed, he couldn't tell which. "Yes, you were doing a tremendous job beating it to death with a broken rifle. Just get up there. I can't be your armed guard for long. I have to get in position to blow up some things too, you know."

"Oh, I know," Nathan agreed. "You seem to have quite a reputation for blowing up things."

Blair merely gave him a steely look and Nathan tried not to feel cowed. "What made you so cold? Come on, don't you have a heart?"

He saw a flash of something cross her face – pain? Remorse? Love? It was gone instantly as she regained control. "What made me like this?" she asked with a dry laugh. She turned and started back towards her A-10, her voice lowering.

"Ask Skynet."

California Valley

2:46pm – Thirty Minutes Before Attack

Blair Williams tried to focus on her mission, but her mind kept drifting back to the annoying Captain Reynolds and his on-the-mark observance. It was true that ever since Marcus had died she'd been… different. She'd always done her job, but a part of her had been missing. She could only imagine how Connor felt, having lost both Allison and Cameron… twice.

Reynolds' voice came over her speakers. "Hey, will you let me shoot down an HK?"

Blair's lip twitched. "Are you ready to launch yet?"

"Yes," he replied, miffed. "You didn't answer my question."

"Don't count on it," she replied, firing up her engine as soon as she saw Serenity do the same. Skynet would be coming, sending in any available Hunter-Killers. She still held on to the hope that many of the HKs would be occupied with the diversion attacks that were taking place across the globe.

Serenity lifted off the ground and suddenly Blair saw them on her radar: two HKs coming in for the kill. She took a deep breath and readied her laser guns. Time for Hunter-Killer Butt-Kicker to come in. She surrendered to instinct, flying cover for the ship that was beginning to head for the upper atmosphere.

The HKs opened fire and she heard Reynolds' shout of protest over the radio. "Stop shootin' at my ship!"

She didn't even bother to point out that the HKs neither heard nor cared about his complaint. Instead, she charged up the lasers and fired, watching with satisfaction when the blast damaged the HK. Meanwhile, Reynolds' didn't seem as inept as he had first appeared. He swung the small shuttle around deftly, shooting at the second HK with his plasma cannon.

She hated having to use any of her heavy weaponry now, but Blair loaded up one of the three nuclear missiles and launched it at the first HK. Her shot was dead on, blowing the HK to pieces. Blair carefully guided her A-10 away from any flying debris that could hit her plane.

Reynolds' had managed to get in a lucky shot with his plasma rifle that must have taken out the second HK's controls. It was sent screaming into the ground with a tremendous explosion.

Blair felt a flash of relief but it didn't last long. They weren't out of this yet. She still had to get to her position to take out her communication site. And he had to get up into orbit to take out those satellites.

As she started to turn her A-10 to leave, she heard Reynolds contact her through the radio once more.

"Thanks," he said, a grin evident in his voice.

"For what?" she asked irritably. What the heck was he so happy about? They were in the middle of a war!

"For letting me shoot one," he replied.

She thought about telling him that she hadn't really planned on letting him do anything, but she sighed. She had too many other things to worry about. "You're welcome. Now get up there and disable those satellites."

She could have sworn she heard him chuckle. "Copy that, Butt-Kicker."

Blair's scowl was short lived. She smiled slightly as she turned her A-10 back down towards her target site.

Twenty minutes to go…

Death Valley Communication Depot

2:56pm – Twenty Minutes Before Attack

John Connor crept forward, hearing the sounds of gun and laser fire coming from all around. The charges, both Z4 and EMP were laid and ready to set off at the precise time.

Now was just the diversion.

The Terminators inside the communication depot had come out to defend their turf and it was taking all John's force to hold them back. Over to his left, he heard Kristin Hamilton let out a warning cry, "Scouts report a HellHound incoming!"

John felt a chill of fear run down his spine. At his side, Allison turned to him with confusion. "What's a hell hound?"

"Skynet's Termi-dog," John replied, gripping his IFW tighter.

Something lunged over a pile of rubble, crashing into Kristin Hamilton. John saw the flash of silver instantly. It was a T-D1 endoskeleton dog. Allison's eyes went wide with shock.

Kristin gave a howl of fury and kicked out at the Hound in an attempt to keep it at bay. Instead, the metal fangs closed on her ankle. John saw the isotope in his weapon turn red and he fired. The machine, which had been too busy attacking Kristin to dodge the bolt let out a demonic howl as its circuits fried.

John scrambled to Kristin's side, quickly surveying the damage. She let out a hiss through her teeth. "My ankle," she groaned. John noted the injury where the steel fangs had pierced flesh. He'd killed it before it had done any severe damage, though.

"Looks like a couple broken ribs too," he added. "From when it jumped you." Where were Lauren and Sydney? They had to be in the area. "Lauren!" he shouted. "Hammy's hurt!"

Less than thirty seconds later, the Fields sisters arrived to help and John turned back towards Allison. It was then that he saw the dark shadow on the rubble pile above her head.

He should have known.

HellHounds never traveled alone.

"Allison, look out!" he cried in horror. She glanced up just in time to see the Termi-Dog endo leap down. That instant warning saved her life, giving her a split second to roll to the side, avoiding its bone crushing impact on the ground. She swung her rifle around but the machine's jaws clamped down on the gun and ripped it from her hands.

John desperately inserted a checked his isotope charge and waited for it to change to red. He realized with horror that the HellHound wasn't going to wait ten seconds to rip Allison's head off.

He had no choice.

John fired the weapon prematurely. The partially formed electrical bolt did little damage, but it did knock the Hound off Allison. Instead, it turned to John, red eyes flashing dangerously as it targeted the new threat.

John furiously started charging his weapon again as the Hound started rushing towards him. Those ten seconds seemed to be the longest of his life. Right as the hound was leaping on top of him, the solution turned red.

John fired.

He felt the machine's claw rake across his eye, but as soon as the blast left his gun, the Hound was destroyed. John shoved the dysfunctional machine off his chest and scrambled to his feet, dizzily, holding his head. He quickly checked his timer.

Fifteen minutes…

Earth's Atmosphere

3:01pm – Fifteen minutes Before Attack

Nathan Reynolds stared out the cockpit window of his ship, at the familiar star-filled sky. He slowed the shuttle down and glanced over at the Dekker brothers. "Welcome to the Black," he announced.

"So, what's the plan?" Zach asked. "I mean, there's a lot more than one satellite. How will we hit them all?"

"Simple," Nathan replied.

Austin's eyes lit up. "Oh! We clone ourselves!"

"I like the way you think," Nathan said with a grin. "But the cloning might prove problematic. We'll just set these EBOMBs with a timer for 3:16. They'll do the rest of the work."

Austin smiled. "You know one good thing about being up in space? It's about the only place in the world – well, outside it – where Skynet can't get to us."

Nathan solemnly agreed as he loaded up the first EBOMB. "Yeah. We're as ghosts in this…"

Colorado

3:09pm – Seven Minutes Before Attack

Major Perry waited, his eyes on the clock and the diverting battle playing out in front of his eyes. The EMP was ready, the Z4 was ready. Now, they just had to wait for the exact moment in time…

Perry looked over at his comrade and fellow commanding officer. Ellison had his face to the sky, a gun in one hand and his Bible in the other. Perry hadn't said a word when Ellison had first pulled out the book from his pack.

Now, in the midst of battle, Perry began to wonder about his fellow soldier's sanity. "Any words of encouragement, Ellison?" he asked sarcastically. "You've been carrying around that thing like it holds the key to the war."

Ellison didn't respond to the jab, simply opened up the book to the end and read, "Revelation 19:20. 'And behold, the beast was taken and cast into the lake of fire…'"

SRD – Deep Ocean

3:11pm – Five Minutes Before Attack

Savannah felt the prick of fear as she watched John Henry, his head plugged into the supercomputer. By now, Angel would already have slipped into the system. And right now, while Skynet was distracted by all the attacks, overloaded with reports from… well, everywhere – Angel was opening up a security hole for the love code to be smuggled in.

"Do you think it will work?" she asked softly.

John Henry gave her a smile. "Yes."

He focused back on his task and Savannah tried to feel as optimistic as he did. Her eyes trailed to the clock. Only five minutes until the love code would activate and John Henry would be put directly in harm's way.

She didn't doubt him and his abilities. She truly believed he knew what he was doing. She had complete faith in him.

And yet… she still felt the fear.

California

3:15pm – One Minute Before Attack

Blair watched with a sickening feeling in her stomach as the HK fired a laser blast at her wingman. His A-10 erupted into a explosion of fire and was sent screaming back towards the ground.

Blair concentrated on the HK that was hovering between her and her target – the ground based antenna. She gritted her teeth as she loaded up another missile.

She'd started with three nuclear missiles for her attack. She would drop the missile right next to the target site and the nuclear blast would create a EMP that would power off the antenna. She'd already used one to save Captain Reynolds but now, she had only one choice.

Only one chance. She had to use her second.

She braced herself and fired. The missile impacted with the HK and Blair drew in a quick breath of relief. That left only one missile left. No second chances. Her first shot would have to be dead-on.

It would be.

Less than a minute, Williams, Blair thought, gripping the controls so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes kept trailing to the countdown timer she'd set up.

The HK was destroyed, but so was her backup pilot, which meant that it was all on her now to take out this site. She loaded the remaining missile, keeping the A-10 circling in the air, waiting for that countdown and the specific moment when it would hit zero.

The waiting was agony. Her fingers twitched, adrenaline pounding through her entire body. Thirty seconds…

Her fingers tightened on the trigger and her jaw clenched.

This is for Marcus.

Death Valley

3:15pm

Thirty seconds.

John looked down at his timer, watching the seconds tick by. Now was the time. He thumbed on his radio, broadcasting to the entire Resistance… and, he knew, to Skynet.

"Skynet," he began. "If you're listening to this, I have a message for you. We've been at war for years, you and me. You've taken away everything I ever cared about. You tried to kill my mother. You killed my father and my uncle and Allison. You made me lose Cameron. You've destroyed everything in my life but you've failed in one thing."

Ten seconds.

"I'm still here," John hissed. "And you will not kill me. I only have one more thing to say to you…"

5…

4…

3…

2…

John smiled. "Welcome to Judgment Day."

Behind him, he heard the EMP go off, the electrical crackle that seemed deafening to ears that had been waiting for it. The entire communications depot seemed to stop at once, all the machines, all the computers, all the Terminators. Everything was powered down.

Off in the distance, he could hear the muffled rumble from another target site. It was so surreal, seeing the effect and knowing that this was happening everywhere.

The entire world was shut down, Judgment Day for the second time, but this time… this time it was Skynet who was caught off guard, unable to do anything.

This time, good would conquer evil.

Death Valley Medical Tent

3:16pm

Lauren Fields stared in awestruck shock at the effects of the EMP. The entire facility seemed to simply freeze in a moment. All the Terminators, everything. Several soldiers darted across the battlefield, shooting the chips out while the machines were down.

And she knew that with this act happening everywhere, Skynet was trapped. And it was all up to John Henry now. At her side, Sydney's mouth was wide open in awe. On the cot, Kristin Hamilton strained to rise, struggled to see.

"Is it done? Did we do it?" she demanded.

"Lay down," Lauren commanded, trying to gently push her back down. The movement had to be causing Kristin extreme pain but she didn't show anything on her face except excitement and wonder. And Lauren knew why.

Secretly, everyone doubted that this day would ever come. She herself had been one of those people. After years and years of living in tunnels, taking care of the wounded, seeing the horrors inflicted on those who had escaped from work camps, the wounds from battle. She'd lost more patients than most doctors would ever have treated in a lifetime. She'd felt the chill of death, seen the life slowly drain out of the dying people that she had no power to save. She'd seen the corpses brought in to be burned in funeral pyres.

In all the horror, she'd never truly imagined that there would be relief, that there would come a day when there would be no more death, no more destruction, no more pain.

When she'd first learned about Judgment Day and the world to come, she'd asked Derek Reese a question she remembered to this day: Does it ever end?

Yes, she realized. And it was ending right here, right now, with John Connor's last strike.

The day she'd always dreamed of but never thought possible. The day that would mark the end of the nightmare. She knew it now, believed it with absolute certainty. John Connor was right.

Today was the day.

SRD – Deep Ocean

3:18pm

It had to have been two minutes, Savannah thought desperately as she waited for John Henry to respond with anything to let her know that he was alive, that he had succeeded, that Skynet was dead.

His face twitched and she felt a glimmer of hope. "John Henry?"

"Savannah?"

Relief broke out on her face along with the widest grin she could muster. "I knew you could do it."

John Henry didn't respond immediately. "I have taken Skynet's place," he replied.

Savannah frowned. "How do you mean? Take its place?"

"I am Cybernet."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you're the internet? The good internet instead of Skynet."

"Yes," he replied with his characteristic smile.

She checked the time again, her own grin fading. "Well, if you're inside the internet now, you need to send out a message to John and everyone else. Otherwise, they'll resort to their plan B and trigger the Z4 to destroy all the satellites and communication depots.

John Henry nodded. "I know exactly what to say…"

Death Valley

3:18pm

John Connor stood on top of the heap of rubble, staring out at the vast expanse of destruction, visualizing the disabled satellites across the globe, up in space, everywhere. But those things were not important.

There was only one question he was asking: Did John Henry succeed? Had the love code been successful in luring Skynet into the trap?

Everyone was anxious. The two minutes were just about up and across the world, soldiers were waiting for the order to use the Z4, their backup plan to cripple Skynet if it was still alive.

"John!" His head jerked towards the sound of Allison's voice. She was running up, carrying his open laptop. John grabbed it and stared at the screen. Instead of seeing Skynet, he saw the words:

IT IS FINISHED.

John felt light-headed, nearly stumbled over from the immense relief. "He did it," he whispered. "John Henry did it… It's over…" He stood up among the rubble, shouting out, "We've won!"

The cheering and joyful weeping that broke out was thunderous, the sound of ultimate victory. Despite his extreme exhaustion, a wide smile broke out on John's face that he couldn't suppress.

This was it, the day they had all been waiting for, the day that Skynet met its end. In the thrill of the moment, he didn't see the T-850 unit rise up from the rubble, its appearance identical to Uncle Bob's, its face stoic, its metal body nearly blown apart by a previous attack.

But Skynet's last command was lodged in its mind. Without Skynet's instruction, it was now moving to execute its last task, to succeed in its final mission.

As John turned to see the machine, as if in slow motion, Derek's words flashed through his mind instantaneously. Someday one of these things is gonna kill you.

He didn't even have time to feel fear as the machine raised its gun and fired. He heard the shot… and suddenly Allison lunged in front of him.

No!

The bullet that was meant for him pierced her body and she let out a gasp of pain.

John was filled with an insane sense of déjà vu. He'd seen this before. She'd saved his life from a Gray, so long ago, had taken a bullet for him. He vaguely heard the blast of an IFW as one of his soldiers shot the attacking Terminator, blowing its head off, its upper half landing a few yards away, barely moving in the rubble.

John felt as if he was moving in slow motion, catching Allison as she fell and gently lowering her to the ground, cradling her body in his arms. Tears sprang unbidden into his eyes.

She was alive, but barely.

It hadn't been a Gray shooting her this time, it had been a have completely accurate but missed her heart.

"Why?" he choked out, unable to stop the tears from flowing down his cheeks. "Why did you do that?" Again?

Allison's voice was weak but still strong "Because…" she whispered. "I love you…"

John said " Yeah me too," John pulls out his combadge."Connor to Voyager 2 to beam directly to sickbay."

In the next second the transport activate and they both was in Voyager Sickbay. "Computer, Activate EMH Programme."

"Please state the-" The doctor said but John cuts him off

"Doc give me a hand here now." John said as the Doctor move over to help John Lift Allison up onto the Bio bed

"Give me that Hyprospray." The Doctor says

John moves fast the get it."Here, Is she going to be Okay." John asks the Doctor.

"She going to be Fine Captain." The Doctor says and he finished healing Allison.

"John.." Alison says as she starts to wake up.

"Yea I'm here." John says as he moves over to her where she can see her.

"Captain she have to stay on Voyager for a Day." The Doctor says

"Got it come on I take you to my room here on Voyager, If that's alright with you Doc."John says

"That's fine Captain."The Doctor says.

"Okay, Come on." John says helping Allison up head out the door."How are you feeling?" John asks Allison as they are heading towards the Turbo lift

"I feel fine, That Doctor of yours knows his stuff." Allison said as the were entering the Turbo Lift

"Deck 6." John said and the doors closed and starting to taking them to that deck.

"Whats this thing we are in?"Allison asks

"It called a Turbo Lift, since Voyager has 15 decks, This is the fastest way to get to them." John explained

There reach Deck 6 and John helps Allison towards his room. When they get there John uses a code to open the doors to his room. They get inside and Allison is shocked by the view of stars out of John's windows. "This is awesome. John what's up?" Allison asks

"I'm heading back down to get Sam and bring him here and get started on the plans to rebuild Earth."John said about to left for the transporter room.

"Hey be careful even if Skynet is destroyed." Allison said

"I will." John said

"Love you." Allison says

"Love you too Allison be back soon."John says leaving

"You better." Allison said before the doors closed and Allison went into John's bedroom and tried to get some sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Rebuild Plans

"Chakotay, I'm going back down to Earth and I want the Hazard team ready to go. As for voyager get Starfleet on the com and get at least 5 ships here which is Galaxy class, Nebula Class, Enterprise-E, Defiant, and Prometheus. Get them to bring food and all including materials to help in the rebuild of Earth Voyager and the other 5 Ships will stay here and get Earth back the way is was." John said.

"Aye Sir." Chakotay replies

"Tell them I'll be going down in 20 mins just got to do something." John said

"Aye Sir." Chakotay replies

John turns and heads for the turbo lift just when he is close enough to the doors they open and he walks in and says "Deck 5."

As soon as the turbo lift hits Deck 5 he heads towards sickbay and as so as he gets there he says" Doctor how much medicine can we spare right now?"

"About 200 litres of every bit of medicine we got Captain. Why do you ask?"

"Because I want 100 litres of every bit of medicine we got for Transport down to Earth understood?" John Says

"Yes Captain, Are we staying?" The Doctor asks

"Yes and get Earth back on track and try to make it better for Earth and everyone on Earth." John says "Talk later Doc."

"Aye Captain."

After John talks with Voyager's Doctor, he heads towards the Transport Room 3 where Alex Munro and the Hazard team only those who are human was going down to Earth.

"Everyone ready?" John asks

"Yes Captain we're Ready." Alex Munro replied (Who will be just called Munro from now on)

"Ok, everyone on the Transport pad then." John said

As the Hazard team and John gets onto the pad John asks "Is the medicine ready for transport?" To the Transporter chief

"Not yet captain, He said it could take up to and Hour." the Transporter chief replied

"OK beam us down Chief" John said

As John said that the Transporter Chief energized.

5 seconds later John and the Hazard team was down on Earth and the same position as they leaved then

"John is Allison okay?" Savannah, Lauren, Sydney asked

"Yes, Allison okay she be back tomorrow or the day after."John replied

"Oh thank god."Savannah said as she walked over to hug John, as did Lauren and Sydney.

"Okay I've got supplies get ready to come down soon." John said to the three and turned to rest of the Resistance in the area and said " Alright lets get back to home lets move it!" John shouted.

As soon as they got back to Eagle Rock Bunker Sam came run towards John barking happily that hes back. John bends down to pat Sam and they continue on they way to the Command centre where Mrs Weaver and John Henry is.

"John Henry how did it go?" John Asked

"It has gone just as planned I'm in complete control of the rest of Hks and terminators and commanded them not to shoot any humans and to head back to the factories." John Henry replied

"Good and Allison got shot but shes Okay recovering to she be back in 1 or 2 days."John saying letting Mrs Weaver and John Henry know but is not ready to trust them enough well Mrs Weaver not but someday John may let John Henry know but well never trust Mrs Weaver or T-1001 enough.

"That is good the Hear John."John Henry said

"Yeah, I'm going to get back to her so but I will be transporting supplies down for this and all other bunkers try and get Earth back on track and Rebuilt Earth so If you John henry could get plans ready for the rest of the Terminators and HKs can help us out rebuilding and then everyone one who is human maybe able to accept them some day." John says

"Yes John I well and I agree with that statement. It well take time."John Henry replied

" Okay come on Sam let's go Savannah Lauren Sydney wanna come and see Allison?" John asked

"Yes." They all replied at the same time

"Okay let's go." John says calling the Hazard team and meeting them outside

"Everyone ready?"John asked

"Yes." They all say

"Okay, Connor to Voyager, 8 to beam up." John says

10 seconds later they are back on Voyager and the Hazard team breaks off and John , Sam, Savannah, Lauren and Sydney head towards the turbo lift

"Deck 6." John says once everyone is in and about 30 seconds later the Turbo lift comes to a stop "Come on she in my room resting." John says to them

As soon as John opens the door to his room on Voyager everyone heads in to see Allison up and looking at the stars

"Ally, brought some company." John says as Allison turns around to see John and sees Sam, Savannah, Lauren and Sydney as those 4 when into a hug and Sam was there too getting hug by Ally also.

Once they broke John and Ally went into a Hug and ending up Kissing too for about a whole min.

Once John and Ally finished the spend the rest of the Day talking about how everything once was that could be once again as john was putting it all on to a data pad so John and John Henry can start working on the plans for all of it.

It was about 9 PM before they all when to bed. John Allison and Sam took the bed and Savannah took the nice chair and Lauren and Sydney taking the 3 sitter.

It was about 9 AM in the morning before they all woke up well rested and Allison was cleared to return to Earth but wanted to stay with John the whole time same with Savannah Lauren and Sydney just for the day.

More in another Couple of weeks but they maybe another 5 - 11 Chapters without some other Terminator crossover with the Gang in which is John, Allison, Sam, Savannah, Lauren and Sydney the main gang but hope y'all enjoy and see you guys next time


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Time to get back to Work

"Morning" Allison says to everyone but John who is still sleeping.

"Morning Ally" Savannah Lauren and Sydney say at once

"So whats all the talk?"Allison asks

"It's about how John was able to get this here like the tech for this has to be from the future." Savannah replied.

"It is from the Future guys the best ship in the fleet well when Voyager was there until a friend of mine brought it back for me the year where Voyager is from was 2378." John said as he had woken up from his sleep the best he had for Years

"Holy Shit" Allison ends up saying before head over to John and saying well you look well rested

"Well I am. The best sleep in years and I 've got u guys with me so yea everything can get back to normal for once since this shit happened." Before i pulls Allison in for a Hug and kissing her at the same time

Before Allison could even say anything John combadge goes off

"Connor here." John says after he hits his combadge

"Captain we have an unknown ship headed right for Earth." Chakotay says

"Got on my way, Tom set a course for that ship full impulse." John says back

"Aye Captain" Tom Paris said since he is Voyager pilot and end to comlink

"Great this just get better I just hope it on an enemy ship for once. Come on." John says as he heads out the door for the turbolift. As they got into the turbolift John just says "Bridge." and it start moving before Allison speaks how much does this happen?"

"Not a lot Ally I just hope it friendly for once but hey like I said we got the best ship in the fleet." John says just when the turbolift stop

That it for this time. Sorry i'm not uploading much just got alot going on and I'm kinda writing a new My Babysitter's a vampire story but not before I finish the over one so hope u guys enjoy this chapter and see you all next time.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Report." John said getting off the turbolift with the rest of the gang

"We still 2 mins away from getting a view of it on the viewscreen sir." Chakotay replies

"Any idea for they are charging weapons yet?" John ask Tuvok

"No Captain, nothing yet." Tuvok replies

"Raise shields lets not take any chances Tuvok." John replied

"Aye Captain." Tuvok said as he was rising voyager's shield to max

"Harry any response from hails?" John asked Harry who was at Operations

"No sir, nothing." Harry replied

"John what is going on?" Allison asks

"Don't know yet, But we stick together. Okay?" john replied

"Okay." Allison replies.

"Good." John says as he puts his hand on her shoulders trying to comfort he. once john knew she was okay and so was the others He decided to get Tom to stop Voyager and wait and see what that ship will do.

"Tom, go to all stop, lets see what that ship would do." John says

"Aye Sir." Tom replies and stops Voyager

"Commander, what do you think about this that ship hasn't responded to hails and not charging weapons yet." John said

"I says we wait and see what happens Captain." Chakotay says

"I agree Captain." Tuvok added

"Okay then lets wait and see then but keep a lock on that ship with our sensors Harry."John replied

"Aye Captain." Harry said while get a fixed lock on that ship.

"John what are u doing?" Savannah asks

"I want to know what that ship will do if we just sit here even if it takes an hour or 2." John who was answering Savannah's question

It takes about an hour and a half for the ship just to turn around and headed to where ever it came from.

"Harry keep a sensor lock on that ship let us know if it comes back towards Earth." John said

"Aye Captain." Harry replied

"Tom set a course back to Earth full impulse." John said to Tom to get Voyager back to Earth.

"Aye Captain." Tom replied simply.

"Commander u got the Bridge, I got to show these guys around Voyager." John says

"Aye Captain." Chakotay replied

"Come on guys let's go." John said getting up and heading towards the turbolift while the gang followed. It took at least an hour just to show the gang Main Engineering, Cargo bay, Shuttle Bay, Delta Flyer, Astronomic lab and the best was the Holodeck which John went in and used it to show the gang and decided to show them Earth the way it was before Skynet nuked it and the whole gang a put from John was going over the moon as if they just went Crazy and John was like "Guys calm down jeez" because he could not take it that way they were looking around it. It took at least an hour to pull them out of the Holodeck and they decided to go back to John's quarters.

"Well what do u guys think of Voyager now?" He asked as he had his arm around Allison

"It's amazing John damn I would love to see Skynet's face if Voyager came into it during the war. Before I found out about it when ur combadge went off remember?" Allison says

Yea I remember it and same but I didn't want Skynet to know how advanced Voyager was but that was how I got the best Computer Components I needed for my Computer to reprogramme remember?" John said and asked another question

"Yeap I say we get some sleep and tomorrow we should be back at Earth right John?" Savannah and Allison was close it say at the same time

"Yeap come guys night see you 3 in the morning, Coming Ally , Sam?"John asked

"yea I coming." Allison said and Sam just let off a Happy bark as they went into John Bedroom while the rest ended up on the 3 sitter sofa which had a bed feature on it. All ended up sleeping pretty easily and John wrapped his arm around Allison which she was happy sleeping with John's arm over her but before he went asleep he kissed her on the check and 2 secs later He fell sound asleep.

Okay guys hope u liked it and see u all next time.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Home again

It is morning time on Voyager which is 5 mins away from Earth. As for the Gang they are still asleep in John's Quarters Savannah Lauren and Sydney still sound asleep on the 3 sitter and John and Allison on the bed with Sam right next to them. Voyager keep an eye on the Ship til it went out of range of Voyagers sensors and didn't even think about coming back.

Voyager just reaches Earth as John and Allison wakes up.

"Hey baby." John Says

"Hey Handsome." Allison says

"Sleep well?" John Asks

"Yeah." Allison says when John Start to kiss her all over and Allison starts to do the same til she sees Earth again and says "Hey John look."

John stop and just starts looking at Earth just seeing what could or would happen next. "Yeah it beautiful up here but there one more beautiful person right next to me." John says as he bring he hand right to her check stroking it before he pulled her in for a kiss which she didn't have a problem with kissing him back.

"Come on lets get the others up." John said and Allison nodded her head before leaning in to kiss him again.

They both got up and got dress. once they got dressed, they went into wake the others up.

"Savannah wake up." John said waking her up

"Hey John." Savannah said

"Hey Sis, sleep well." John asked

"Yeah." Savannah said

John looked over at Allison who already woke Lauren and Sydney up. John went over to the replicator and order "Coffee Black." John said as the replicator made it up 2 secs later which was when john picked it up and started to drink it.

"Hey guys before we go back down to earth I going to check on the bridge." John Said

"Hey I'm coming too." Allison said as she smiled at him which he returned.

"U guys going to coming too?" John as the rest of the gang who nodded their head yes. "Come on then." John said

They all exited his quarters and head towards the turbo lift. John and all of them were talking what they should do when they got back down. As they reached the turbo lift John heads in first and waits til the others get in and say "Bridge." Which cause the turbolift to head straight there. about 20 secs later they got to the Bridge as john got off first and headed towards the captains chair and all he said was "Report."

"Not Yet Captain, and the ship we been tracking is off of range but if they come back in range we pick them up fast," Chakotay said

"Got it, Hows our warp core?" John asks B'lenna who was the Chief Engineer of Voyager

"She still going like a charm, but we need to send the Delta Flyer out for more fuel." B'lenna said

"Got it we see what we can do, Harry everything good ur end?" John asks

"Aye sir, we all good." Harry says

"Got it, Tuvok hows our weapons and shields?" John asks

"All good Captain, our Weapons are good as for our new weapons systems are still being tested. But our New shield are ready for the next time we need them." Tuvok says

"All right. Me and the other are going back down to Earth, Is everything ready to go down?" John says

"Aye Captain, ready to go after u and the others go down."Chakotay says

"All right, Come on guys lets go get ready." John says to Allison and the others

The gang heads straight for the Turbo lift to go back to john's Quarters to get they stuff together and the stuff they replicator too which john told them how to use it. It took them about 2 hours to get everything and head for the transport room where Harry was ready for them to Beam down.

"We ready to go this end sir." Harry says

"Let's go." John says as they get in the pad. Allison staying close together since it scares her a bit. But the rest is ready to go so john says "Energize." which by then harry beams them back down to Eagle Rock. About 10 mins after they get back down John, Allison and Savannah went to their room to unpack as for Lauren and Sydney went to their new room to unpack. Back in John's Allison's and Savannah's room Savannah got the single bed as for John and Allison got the Double bed. It took all of them about 3 hours to unpack and put thing were they where going to be put. Once that was done and John got word for Voyager that they beamed all of the supplies down to John Henry's location which john told Harry to transport the supplies down.

Then Savannah goes to bed when John and Allison went to get some sleep so they could get started on what they had to do next. With John and Allison who were kissing each other for a good couple of mins before they cuddled into each but before they could get to sleep Savannah comes behind John and gets in next to him before falling asleep which John and Allison silently laugh about before Cuddled in again and fell asleep together as for Savannah which is just happy that she knows that she still has some family left even if to wasn't born into the family and John as her Brother and well help if she needed it and she loves John like she wants to be with him but John has Allison back and wasn't going to get in the way of that and Just wants to be with him likes he was Always Family to her Since Sarah raised her when John Jumped into the Future.

 **Thats All for this time see u guys next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It was morning time John Ally and Savannah Just woke up and got up had some breakfast and went to check on everything with John henry.

"How we doing John Henry?" John asks

"We are getting alone great everything is still good and no glitches ir anything yet." John henry replied

"Good, did the supplies get down alright?"John asked

"Yeah, All counted for." John henry said

John and Ally plus Savannah left when John Combadge went off

"Connor." John said

"Captain we got a Transwarp Signature." Chakotay said

"Borg." John said

"Yes Sir." Chakotay replied

"All right. hold on." John said as the rest of the gang got they and John looked at them and said "Ready." and they just nodded

"Voyager 6 to beam up to the Bridge." John said and 10 second later they was on the bridge. "Tom set a course for that Signature."

"Aye sir." Tom said setting a course for the Borg Signature as John turned

"Red Alert, Battle stations." John said as voyager went fully combat mode "how long Tom?"

" 2 mins. Sir." Tom replied

"Tuvok Raise Shields and Charge all weapons Load Photons." John said

"Aye Captain." Tuvok replied Raising voyager shields and charging weapons with the Photons ready.

"Seven what kind of Borg ship is it?" John asks

"It's a sphere Captain." 7 Replies

"It charging Weapons." Harry says

"Full power to shields."John says as Voyager get hit.

"Shield are holding." Tuvok says

"Return fire, hit them with everything we got." John says as Tuvok fire their Phasers and photon banks

"Direct hit they shield are weakening." Tuvok says

"Hit them again."John says

"Captain?"Tuvok says

"Fire"John says back

Tuvok fire their main weapons again put them down to 10% hull. they ended up turning away

"They moving away Captain." Harry says

"Tuvok photons Full spread." John says

"Captain , they leaving." Tuvok says

"I know we cant let them get away and message back that it just voyager here Fire."John says

"Aye sir."Tuvok says fire the Spread of photons.

"Target Destroyed Sir." Tuvok said

"Harry Did the sphere able to sent out a message?" John asks

"No Sir."Harry replied

"Okay, Tom set a course back to Earth." John said

"Aye Captain." Tom said

It took them 10 mins to get back to Earth and John ordered repairs to Voyager before John and the Gang Beamed back down. B'lenna said it could take a day to repair what damage they took fully but no problems should come up. 10 mins later the gang was back on Earth. When Mrs. Weaver comes in

"John, Are u busy?" Weaver asks

"No. What's up?" John replied

"John Henry said he may have found something." Weaver said

"OKay I be there in a couple of mins." John says

Weaver Nodded at that and left then Allison asked " What does that mean?"

"I dont know, but hey cant be that bad, Plus Skynet is dead so yeah."John replied

"Just be careful John." Allison and Savannah said at the same time worried about what every it was.

"Ally, Savannah, I'll be fine plus tell u guys once I know what it is okay?"John replied as they nodded they heads

 **Thats it but what is going to happen. Something good or Bad. Find out next time and Cameron may come back Didn't know yet. Take it easy guys and love you all.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Okay, so what did u want me for?" John asks Weaver

"There something you should see." Weaver says lead John down the corridor to a room.

"So what's this about Weaver?" John asks

"We find some virus in you and we think this can stop it." Weaver says hold a needle full of liquid metal

"What the hell do you want to do with that." John says backing up.

"Me and John Henry think its our only option to stop it before it gets too bad."weaver said staying in the same stop where she stop.

"Could that do anything? John asks

"It could heal you and you may get some more reflexes then you did have but it should turn you." Weaver said

"Where the hell did you get that?"John asks

"it's mine, we wanted to see if it could kill it before telling you. But it will work and shut down once it killed the virus." Weaver replied

"Would it not Activate again if I get hurt?" John asked

"It is possible, But shut down once it did that too." Weaver says

"Is it only me what has it?"John asks

"Yes." Weaver said

"Fine, Let's do it and get it over with."John said as Weaver moved over to him and told him to sit on the chair before she injected the needle with the liquid metal into he bloodstream. Pulled the needle out and said "How you feel?" as Weaver pulled back

"I feel fine." John replied. tried to get up but Weaver came back over and put a hand on him pushing him back down.

"You need to stay still for a couple of mins John." Weaver said

"Fine." John said Just after he says that it start to hurt but he doesn't know why

"Why is it starting to hurt?" John asks

"It's just Killing the Virus fast as possible."Weaver said before she got a Call from John henry saying something the John didn't hear.

5 mins later the pain stops and John thinks that it finished But the liquid metal start to come out thought the skin thought a Spot hole it made.

"Weaver, What was that Call from John Henry about?" John asks

"We don't know yet for sure john I tell you when I got what data we got Correct." Weaver said

"Make sure you do, I got to get back to others. See ya." John says heading back to Allison and Savannah.

"Hey." John says as he catches up to Allison and Savannah

"Hey, what was that all about?" Allison as while Savannah was watching John.

"Not to worry about." John says smiling and Allison looked convinced but Savannah didn't.

"John can we talk?" Savannah asked.

"Yeah, catch you up later Ally." John said

"Okay, baby." Allison said Kissing him on the cheek and went towards they room.

"Okay, what did you what to talk to me about?" John asked.

"Not here." Savannah said. Leading him down the corridor towards a small room taking him in and shutting the door tight. "What did she really want to talk about?"

"There was a virus in me somehow but it gone so everything Okay."John said

"Wait how did you get rid of it?" Savannah asked.

"Now don't said anything til I'm done Okay?" John asked.

"Okay."Savannah said.

"The only way to get rid of it was to put a small bit of liquid metal in me, which worked really quickly than it just left my body and no trace of it now, Okay I'm fine Sis, everything is okay."John said. While Savannah was pissed stunned and just happy his was going to be okay and just pulled him into a tight hug.

"You better be John." Savannah said.

They broke apart and John said "Come on lets catch up to Allison and don't tell her anything about this Please Savannah she would freak if she found out and how it got killed." John said.

"Okay, I wouldn't tell her, but maybe you still should but just think about it okay?" Savannah said while John just nods and they went back to their room where Allison was.

As they went in to their room Allison was waiting for John to come in so she could jump on him.

"John where's Allison?" Savannah asked. walking in.

"I don't...What the Fuck!" John said as Allison jump him. leaving her and Savannah laughing. "Jesus Ally don't do that please."

"Okay, Love so what are we going to do." Allison asked.

"Well since we have some power generates off Voyager and some of my stuff beamed down which is alright set up, let play some Zombies." John said as he lead them to that room where he had a 40 inch TV set up with A PS4 console and All the games for it on one side and on the other side was a gaming computer really to go but John when and sat on a 3 sitter put in Black ops 3 and got the controllers out for Allison and Savannah which they signed in quick since John had it all ready for them. and they just enjoyed being together playing zombies on the Gaint. They ended up getting to Round 50 before they all died.

John was on top with the most points plus headshots. Allison and Savannah was tried in second with the same amount of Kills and points.

"Now that was fun." John said as Ally and Savannah nodded they heads before they all sit down they controllers and John turned off the PS4 with his going into the bedroom to get some Sleep and Savannah was about to sleep on the 3 sitter before John said "What to sleep next to us plus we got an single bed put in today while we was out."

"Yeah sure." Savannah said smiling but as soon as john turned to walk in she Jumped on him before they landed on the double bed laughing they heads off while Allison was Laughing her head off.

"Come on you 2 I'm tried." Allison said as she changed into something more comfortable get into the bed while John and Savannah went to their side to change to and John got in right next to Ally and Savannah right into her bed for asleep straight away while John and Ally was to busy Kisses each other.

"Night Ally." John said.

"Night John." Allison said. before they both fell asleep in each others arms.

 **Thats all this time but more to come. Love you guys, See you next time.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

It's been 2 years since the Resistance destroyed Skynet, Then John Henry Took over the rest of the machines and Destroy all of Skynet's programming so they didn't revert and kill people. Weaver started to do some secret project til I found out That Weaver was making a TDDS which means when a Time Bubble shows up they can lock on to it. Me and Allison ended up getting Married a year before last. Savannah and Cody ended up getting Married 3 months ago. Allison got pregnant with Twins. They were born just 2 weeks ago. A baby girl and a baby boy. We ended up Calling our baby boy Scott and our baby Girl Teyla. John Henry had the designs for Me and Alison house and Savannah and Cody do they were right next to each other next to a lake in middle of the wood in Beacon hills California which was just when John Henry removed Skynet's Programming from the first group which was 10 T-600 s 20 T-888 s 2 Hks and John henry give us a surprise but come back to that later.

(John Henry POV)

"You sure it's a TDE bubble?" Weaver asked.

"Yes, It could though from the Past and landed at Zeira Corporation where I got made, Any ideas what it could be?" I ask.

"Only one way to find out, Don't tell Connor til we know more." Weaver said.

"Yes Maam." I replied then I saw weaver walk out.

(Weaver's POV)

I just have gotten to the location of my old Ziera Corporation building and went into it to find A body on the floor where my old TDE used to be before J Day. I walk over to it just to Recognize that 's it's Cameron body that didn't come through with them. I Called up John Henry.

"John Henry Here." John Henry say.

"I need a HK here to pick something up." I say.

"What?" John Henry replied.

"It's Cameron's body the one that didn't come through with Me and John Connor." I replied.

"The HK is on the way, Shall I inform General Connor?" John henry Asked.

"No, not yet lets get her fix up, you still got all of her memories in your database before she went back?" I ask.

"Yes, I still have them in a back up file, I have A chip getting ready now. This one wouldn't have to kill command or Skynet's software." John Henry said.

"Good, let me know when it is ready. Weaver out." I say cutting the link and wait for the HK to take Cameron's body back to base for repairs and a new chip and headed back to John Henry.

(John Connor POV)

Me and Allison has been in this house now a whole year and We got our kids with us. We spend time on the beach and every now and then went over to Savannah's Place. I kids love going there to see they Aunt and they Uncle Cody. On our last time there Savannah told us she was pregnant. I felt so happy for her. Voyager went back to guard Earth from the Borg and anything else that would come for us and Starfleet has given full command of Voyager back again so I can keep her here. Galaxy and Nebula Came with the supplies for the whole planet. I opened Earth up for any Human in Starfleet that wanted to stay and help with the rebuild which went well and Earth is about 100 years more technology now.

 **3 weeks later**

I get a call from Weaver and John henry asking for me to come. I got Savannah and Cody to watch the kids so my and Allison could see what was up plus Allison really wanted to come and Savannah loves spending time with her niece and nephew and the same the other way round. We get there to see Weaver, John Henry and ... Cameron.

"What's is going on?" I ask. They all look at me and Allison.

"John I found Cameron's body the one that should of came to the same time I though it was destroyed, turns out it was sent to us 3 week ago since I found it at Ziera Corporation." Weaver said.

"John Wait how are you alive I remember Killing you?" Cameron asked Allison.

They filled Cameron in on the whole story and about them being married now and had a girl and a Boy. Cameron was so happy for them and Wanted to see them which they were fine with and took to see them and that night I fell asleep and Allison and Cameron was talking the next day they both told me that Cameron was part of us to so it was like a triple married couple then and All of us lived for a long time and Scott and Teyla lived they life's together not wanted to go separate way which us three was happy for that and Savannah Had 2 girls called Melissa and Lydia who Melissa found someone called Chris which work really well and Lydia found someone with a weird name called Stiles but they loved each other to bits and Everything was so much better and Spend each day together on the beach which was like nothing of Skynet ever happened but we remembered it.

 **That's this story done. I really loved making this Story and yes I know I made it in to John Cameron and Allison getting together but it better then one of them dying again. Love you guys and I will be focusing on my Teen Wolf Story now Called The McCall Pack. See ya next time.**


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